Recent Advances in Research and Forecasting of Tropical Cyclone Rainfall Kevin Cheung1, Zifeng Yu2, Russell L. Elsberry3, Michael Bell4, Haiyan Jiang5, Tsz Cheung Lee6, Kuo-Chen Lu7, Yoshinori Oikawa8, Liangbo Qi9, Robert F. Rogers10, Kazuhisa Tsuboki11 1Macquarie University, Australia 2Shanghai Typhoon Institute, China 3University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, USA 4Colorado State University, USA 5Florida International University, USA 6Hong Kong Observatory, Hong Kong 7Pacific Science Association 8RSMC Tokyo/Japan Meteorological Agency, Japan 9Shanghai Meteorological Service, China 10NOAA/AOML/Hurricane Research Division, USA 11Nagoya University, Japan February 2018 Tropical Cyclone Research and Review Special Issue Corresponding Author: Kevin Cheung, Department of Environmental Sciences Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW 2109, Australia Email:
[email protected] Abstract In preparation for the Fourth International Workshop on Tropical Cyclone Landfall Processes (IWTCLP-IV), a summary of recent research studies and the forecasting challenges of tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall has been prepared. The extreme rainfall accumulations in Hurricane Harvey (2017) near Houston, Texas and Typhoon Damrey (2017) in southern Vietnam are examples of the TC rainfall forecasting challenges. Some progress is being made in understanding the internal rainfall dynamics via case studies. Environmental effects such as vertical wind shear and terrain-induced rainfall have been studied, as well as the rainfall relationships with TC intensity and structure. Numerical model predictions of TC-related rainfall have been improved via data assimilation, microphysics representation, improved resolution, and ensemble quantitative precipitation forecast techniques. Some attempts have been made to improve the verification techniques as well. A basic forecast challenge for TC-related rainfall is monitoring the existing rainfall distribution via satellite or coastal radars, or from over- land rain gauges.