On occasion, tropical cyclones (TCs) have been shown to strengthen over land, provided that the land is warm and moist. The emergent hypothesis is that the moist surface provides sustaining latent heat flux that is reminiscent of an oceanic environment.. To test this hypothesis, numerical simulations of idealized TCs with various profiles of soil moisture availability (SMA) and surface roughness were conducted. SMA gradients are shown to have a large influence on precipitation beyond uniform SMA. The sensitivity of accumulated precipitation to SMA is larger with enhanced friction. The maximum wind speed is more sensitive to differences in SMA under lower surface roughness. Results provide a foundation for refining emerging theories about land –atmosphere interactions with landfalling tropical systems. Additionally, these findings may inform forecasters to consider land-surface conditions when assessing intensity trends for landfalling tropical cyclones, particularly since assimilation of soil moisture and surface characteristics can yield differing impacts.