A Study of Predecessor Rainfall Events (PRE) in Advance of Trop

Recent tropical seasons in the Atlantic basin have been quite active. This has translated to an increased frequency of land falling tropical cyclones in the United States. In several instances, a concentrated area of heavy rainfall was observed well upstream from the land falling tropical system itself; separate from the cyclone’s primary precipitation shield. In some of the more pronounced cases, severe flooding caused substantial human and economic impacts, including loss of life and significant structural damage. Since the primary focus was often on adverse conditions directly associated with the tropical cyclones, PRE have mostly been unexpected phenomena.