OCEANIC PROCESSES AND TROPICAL CYCLONES

The importance of sea surface temperature (SST) in the formation and maintenance of tropical cyclones has long been known since Palmen (1948) first showed almost all hurricanes form over oceans with mini-mum SSTs greater than 26 ◦ C. As a storm intensifies, the increasing wind speed may increase evaporation and supply the storm with the necessary source of heat for further intensification. With increasing win