The damage potential of a hurricane is widely considered to depend more strongly on an integrated measure of the hurricane wind field, such as Integrated Kinetic Energy (IKE), than a point-based wind measure, such as maximum sustained wind speed (Vmax). Recent work has demonstrated that minimum sea level pressure (MSLP) is also an integrated measure of the wind field. This study investigates how well historical continental US hurricane damage is predicted by MSLP compared to both Vmax and IKE for continental United States hurricane landfalls for the period 1988–2020. We first show for the entire North Atlantic basin that MSLP is much better correlated with IKE (rrank = 0.50) than Vmax (rrank = 0.26). We then show that continental US hurricane normalized damage is better predicted by MSLP (rrank = 0.81) than either Vmax (rrank = 0.65) or IKE (rrank = 0.68). For Georgia to Maine hurricane landfalls specifically, MSLP and IKE show similar levels of skill at predicting damage, whereas Vmax provides effectively no predictive power. Conclusions for IKE extend to power dissipation as well, as the two quantities are highly correlated because wind radii closely follow a Modified Rankine vortex. The physical relationship of MSLP to IKE and power dissipation is discussed. In addition to better representing damage, MSLP is also much easier to measure via aircraft or surface observations than either Vmax or IKE, and it is already routinely estimated operationally. We conclude that MSLP is an ideal metric for characterizing hurricane damage risk.

The Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO) significantly impacts North Atlantic hurricanes, with more hurricane activity occurring when the MJO favors enhanced convection over Africa and the tropical Indian Ocean and suppressed hurricane activity occurring when the MJO favors enhanced convection over the tropical Pacific. Using data from 1905-2015, we find more hurricanes make landfall in the continental US when the MJO enhances convection over the tropical Indian Ocean. In addition, when the MJO enhances convection over the Western Hemisphere, tropical cyclones tend to form in the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean, leading to more Gulf Coast landfalls. As the MJO moves to the Indian Ocean, more storms form in the tropical Atlantic, increasing the number of Florida and East Coast landfalls. The MJO’s modulation of tropical cyclone steering winds appears to be secondary to its effects on genesis locations.

This study investigates trends in global tropical cyclone (TC) activity from 1990–2020, a period where observational platforms are mostly consistent. Several global TC metrics have decreased during this period, with significant decreases in hurricanes and Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE). Most of this decrease has been driven by significant downward trends in the western North Pacific. Globally, short-lived named storms, 24-hr intensification periods of >=50 kt day-1 and TC-related damage have increased significantly. The increase in short-lived named storms is likely due to technological improvements, while rapidly intensifying TC increases may be fueled by higher potential intensity. Damage increases are largely due to increased coastal assets. The decreasing trends in hurricane numbers and global ACE are likely due to the trend towards a more La Niña-like base state from 1990–2020, favoring TC activity in the North Atlantic and suppressing TC activity in the eastern and western North Pacific.