ABSTRACT
Lindner, B.L.; Holden, W., and Hannah-Harding, M., 0000. The influence of the Gulf of Mexico on tropical cyclone climatology from Florida to North Carolina.
Previous investigations on the climatology of tropical cyclones that impacted Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia, showed that many tropical cyclones approaching from the Gulf of Mexico likely impacted these communities. To test the theories developed in previous investigations to explain the trends observed in the properties of tropical cyclones along the southeastern United States, National Hurricane Center records were used to compile climatologies of tropical cyclones that impacted Jacksonville, Florida, and Cape Canaveral, Florida. Tropical cyclones that impacted Jacksonville had similar properties to those that impacted Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah. However, tropical cyclones that impacted Cape Canaveral had significant differences to tropical cyclones that impacted the other four cities. Fewer tropical cyclones originated in or passed through the Gulf of Mexico prior to striking Cape Canaveral. The early season secondary maximum in the number of tropical storms that impacted the other four cities was nearly absent in the seasonal pattern of tropical storms that impacted Cape Canaveral. While tropical cyclones that impacted Jacksonville had similar directions of approach and translational velocities to tropical cyclones that impacted Wilmington, Charleston, and Savannah, tropical cyclones that impacted Cape Canaveral had less disparity in translational velocity between tropical storms and hurricanes, and they showed a definite shift to a more southerly direction of approach. Tracks and points of origin for tropical cyclones that impacted Cape Canaveral were also significantly different than suggested by trends observed for the other four cities. However, the climatologies of tropical cyclones that impacted each of the five cities showed evidence of a broadening of the hurricane season in recent decades.
