Fig. 5: Discrepancy of TC rainfall with differing SST anomaly from model simulations.

Spatial distribution of rain rate (mm h⁻¹; shaded) and SST anomaly (°C; black contour) for (a) weak stratification experiment and (b) strong stratification experiment with the pre-storm SST being 29 °C. Simulation times shown for (a) and (b) are 45 h and 60 h, respectively, both of which correspond to the same maximum surface wind of 50 m s⁻¹. Blue dashed lines in (a) and (b) denote the simulated storm tracks, respectively. c Change rate of TC rainfall (mm h⁻¹ s m⁻¹) as a function of TC intensity (maximum surface wind) for weak and strong stratification experiments with the pre-storm SST setting to 27–31 °C at an interval of 1 °C. Blue and red dots denote the experiments in which the dependence of TC rainfall change rate on maximum surface wind is statistically significant above the 99% confidence level. Gray dots denote the experiments that fail to pass the significant test.