Description

Tropical cyclones are known to be powered by large heat fluxes from the underlying ocean and when they make landfall, they are commonly expected to lose energy. However, some systems maintain strength or even intensify over land surfaces, and are known as tropical cyclone or intensification (TSMI) events. One possible cause is the release of sensible latent heat derived from wet soils. Such systems can occur in the United States and China, but the most conducive environment is Australia.

Although the underlying soil in Northern Australia is desert sand, some tropical cyclones have been observed to reintensify when they make landfall, often reacquiring classical inner-core structure, including eyes. Such redeveloped warm-core cyclones are commonplace in the remote desert areas of northern Australia, where they are called “agukabams” from the aboriginal word roots “agu,” meaning land, and “kabam,” meaning storm.