High resolution numerical simulation of Tropical Cyclone Drena undergoing extra-tropical transition

Summary

Tropical Cyclone Drena, a relatively long lived cyclone lasting from January 2, 1997 to January 10, 1997, crossed over three well separated island groups and affected a fourth in the south western Pacific Ocean during different stages of its life cycle. Midway through its transition into an extra-tropical low, it passed over the eastern edge of Norfolk Island, an isolated island located in the western Pacific Ocean midway between New Zealand and New Caledonia, at 0615 UTC (1745 local) on January 9, 1997. The tropical cyclone exhibited markedly different characteristics during each phase of its life cycle, with thick fog being reported during the eye passage at Norfolk Island. Although routine global and Australian region numerical models were able to provide the operational forecasters with broad scale guidance as to the movement of the tropical cyclone, the level of detail available at these resolutions is insufficient to identify the characteristics important to communities in the tropical cyclone's path. The high resolution numerical model (HIRES) developed by the University of New South Wales, was run at a resolution of 25 kilometres to investigate the evolution of the tropical cyclone from a warm cored, quasi-symmetrical vortex into a highly asymmetrical mid latitude low pressure system. The model captures the observed wind and precipitation structure of the cyclone very well during this crucial transition phase. The comparison extends into the vertical with a model derived vertical cross section depicting the key features observed in a sequence of ten specially requested radiosonde flights, released at six hourly intervals, from Norfolk Island which transect the passage of the tropical cyclone over this remote island.