Relating extratropical atmospheric heat transport to cyclone life cycle characteristics and numbers in Southern Hemispheric winter

Zibell, Jan; Hermoso, Alejandro; Donohoe, Aaron; Schemm, Sebastian

doi:10.5194/wcd-7-659-2026

Articles | Volume 7, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-659-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-659-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 7, issue 2

Research article

|

23 Apr 2026

Research article |

| 23 Apr 2026

Relating extratropical atmospheric heat transport to cyclone life cycle characteristics and numbers in Southern Hemispheric winter

Jan Zibell, Alejandro Hermoso, Aaron Donohoe, and Sebastian Schemm

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-7-659-2026-supplement

Data sets

Relating extratropical atmospheric heat transport to cyclone life cycle characteristics and numbers in Southern Hemispheric winter Jan Zibell https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-c-000797410

ERA5 hourly data on pressure levels from 1940 to present Hans Hersbach et al. https://doi.org/10.24381/cds.bd0915c6

Interactive computing environment

Relating extratropical atmospheric heat transport to cyclone life cycle characteristics and numbers in Southern Hemispheric winter Jan Zibell, Alejandro Hermoso, Aaron Donohoe, and Sebastian Schemm https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19061298

Short summary

The transient moist static energy (MSE) flux dominates the poleward atmospheric heat transport in the Southern Hemisphere. In this study, we investigate how this transient MSE flux evolves over the life cycle of extratropical cyclones. By attributing transient MSE fluxes to nearby cyclones, we assess the contribution of individual cyclones to zonally integrated atmospheric heat transport and discuss the relationship between cyclone numbers and atmospheric heat transport on a seasonal scale.