Comparing the Rainfall Patterns Produced by Hurricanes Frances (2004) and Jeanne (2004) over Florida.

Matyas, Corene J.; Cartaya, Mario

During 2004, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne produced heavy rainfall across Florida. Although making landfall at the same location and moving along similar tracks, these storms produced different rainfall patterns. We employ a GIS to analyze rain gauge and radar-estimated rainfall data spatially, and we determine which physical mechanisms caused the asymmetrical rain swaths produced by each storm. We find that due to a moist environment and weakening vertical wind shear, the rain fields of Frances covered a large area. Strong convection in several outer rainbands and slow forward velocity yielded high rainfall totals. Although Jeanne contained more convective rainfall than Frances, vertical wind shear, a faster forward velocity, and existence within a relatively dry environment caused rainfall totals to be lower. The techniques employed in this study could be applied to a larger number of landfalling tropical cyclones to better understand where high rain totals occur under different combinations of environmental conditions.

FLORIDA; HURRICANE Frances, 2004; HURRICANE Jeanne, 2004; RAINFALL; GEODATABASES

Southeastern Geographer, 2009, Vol 49, Issue 2, p132

0038-366X

Academic Journal

10.1353/sgo.0.0046