Table 3 Pre-TC sea surface temperature (SSTpre, °C), during TC SST (SSTduring), pre-TC tropical cyclone heat potential (TCHPpre, kJ cm−2), during TC sea-air difference in specific humidity (qs-qa, g kg−1) and during TC temperature (SSTduring-Ta_during, °C) at the air-sea interface averaged from the time of genesis to the lifetime maximum intensity (LMI) for all TCs along the track of TCs (averaged from 2° × 2° around TC center) during the summer (June–August) and autumn (September–November) seasons for the period 2005–2020

From: Mechanism driving stronger tropical cyclones in cooler autumn than the hottest summer

 

Summer

Autumn

Difference (Autumn minus Summer)

SSTpre (°C)

29.4 ± 0.7

29.2 ± 0.6

−0.2 (p < 0.01)

SSTduring (°C)

28.5 ± 0.9

28.7 ± 0.7

0.2 (p < 0.01)

TCHPpre (kJ cm−2)

69.1 ± 31.9

82.3 ± 29.6

13.2 (p < 0.01)

qs_during-qa_during (g kg−1)

9.1 ± 1.5

9.8 ± 1.1

0.7 (p < 0.01)

SSTduring-Ta_during (°C)

1.4 ± 0.7

2.0 ± 0.8

0.6 (p < 0.01)

  1. In different variables “pre” indicates 3 days before TC and “during” indicates on the day of TC. The last column denotes the difference in variables between the autumn and summer seasons, and p-value indicates the statistical significance of the differences between the two seasons using two-tailed Student’s t-test.
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