Global cyclone clustering climatology

Cyclone clustering, the swift succession of extratropical cyclones in a short amount of time, has a huge impact on society. However, it is not completely understood yet. On one side, extratropical cyclones grow by baroclinic instability, thereby reducing the large-scale baroclnicity (temperature gradient). On the other side extratropical cyclones should also replenish this baroclinicity, to ensure that extratropical cyclones can keep on forming. One hypothesis could be that latent heating is important in re-establishing the temperature gradient.

We developed a diagnostic, which detect cyclone clustering based on any set of cyclone tracks. We have applied to both Reanalysis as well climate model data.