Abstract

Current theories of tropical cyclone (TC) intensification give little direct indication of the role of the TC size in intensity changes, although there are observations showing a relationship. We develop a new model of TC central pressure tendency where the pressure change can be expressed as exponential with a time constant determined by the ratio of radius maximum wind (Rmax) and the column inflow or outflow speed. An analysis of observations confirms the relationship which becomes more important for a larger pressure tendency and suggests an upper bound on pressure tendency for a given Rmax. The dependence of the pressure tendency on size poses a challenging constraint on the accurate forecasting of TCs in numerical weather prediction and climate models.