Size changes over the life of sea level cyclones in the NCEP reanalysis

Abstract

This paper addresses the extent to which sea level pressure cyclones change size as they develop. A state-of-the-art cyclone tracking scheme has been applied to the global "reanalyses" produced by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction for the four-decade period 1958-97. The analysis is based on all the cyclones found in the analyses, and on those which halfway through their lifetimes are located in the 30°-50° and 50°-70° latitude bands. Systems in both the Northern Hemisphere (NH) and Southern Hemisphere are considered, as are those in the December-February and June-August periods. The results show that the radius of surface cyclonic systems increases as they evolve to maturity...