Jacki Kinney Climatology December 6, 2005 An Examination of the Effects of Sea-Surface Temperatures on North Atlantic Hurricanes I am looking at SST variability because the ocean is the primary energy source for hurricanes Local SST greater than 26.5 is generally considered to be a necessary condition for tropical cyclone development Jacki Kinney Climatology December 6, 2005

Main Development Region The main development region is primarily between 10 and 20 N

Number of Major Atlantic Hurricanes This figure is the total number of category 3,4,or 5 Atlantic hurricanes that occurred between the years of 1944 to 2000. The dashed line is the 5-year running mean Goldenberg, et al, 2001

SST Variation Goldenberg, et al, 2001 This figure is the variation of SST averaged of the MDR for 1870-1998. The dashed line is the 5 year running mean. Goldenberg, et al, 2001

Webster, et al., 2005

Intense Hurricanes Webster, et al., 2005

Power Dissipation Index Emanuel, 2005

Conclusions There does seem to be a correlation, in the North Atlantic, between SST and hurricane activity. It is too early to tell if the variations seen are due to natural variations or human-induced global warming