A MODELING STUDY OF INHOMOGENEOUS COASTAL GALES ASSOCIATED WITH THE LANDFALL OF TYPHOON SOUDELOR (2015)

In this study, coastal gales and rainfall attributed to the landfall of Typhoon Soudelor (2015) are analyzed based on observational dense automatic weather stations data, advanced scatterometer-retrieved 10-m ocean surface wind data and simulations using the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model. This study focuses on gale bands in the right-front quadrant of the typhoon and associated coastal winds over Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces in China before the landfall of the typhoon. The results are summarized as follows. (1) 10-m surface wind data from automatic weather stations over land and islands, advanced scatterometer-retrieved 10-m ocean surface wind data, and the WRF simulation indicate similar mesoscale offshore gales. (2) The model simulation with a 333-m grid mesh indicates a gale zone over the right-front quadrant of the typhoon; the gale is “broken” over the coastal areas, and formed an inhomogeneous gale band. (3) The model-simulated winds agree well with the island observations. (4) Non-uniform gales over boundary layers result in horizontal wind-speed gradients and strong convergence that favors the development of convection and the maintenance of ocean surface gales.