The evidence for the existence of Rossby-like waves in the hurricane vortex

Abstract

The qualitative and quantitative evidence for the existence of Rossby-like eddies in hurricanes is examined. It is found that the spiral rain bands exhibit many characteristics similar to those found in the troughs in the “Rossby Waves” of the general circulation. In addition to many qualitative analogies, the spiral bands are regions where a substantial amount of potential energy is converted to kinetic. Although there are no direct measurements to show that the spiral rain bands mark the presence of a Rossby-like wave structure, observations of the momentum budget suggest that there is an eddy flux of momentum into hurricanes in the same sense as that observed in the general circulation.