Data Analysis of Tropical Cyclone Size

The geometric size of a tropical cyclone (TC) is directly related to its destructive potential. However, widely used measures for TC activity and destructive potential, such as the accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) and power dissipation index (PDI), are based on maximum wind speed, without considering storm size. Our analysis of the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecast (ATCF), Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JWTC), and National Hurricane Center (NHC) best track data shows that storm size is positively correlated with TC intensity and translation speed globally. The revised ACE and PDI (RACE and RPDI) take into account storm size but do not have a significant effect on annual trends for TC activity and destructive potential. In the Atlantic basin (AL), TC activity and destructiveness measures bear positive correlations with HadISST September sea surface temperature in both short and long term analysis. In the Western Pacific basin (WP), the annual trends of RACE and RPDI exhibit much stronger correlations with local August SST than ACE and PDI. Both results imply a potentially strong linkage between global warming and hurricane destructiveness.