Cyclone phase space characteristics of the extratropical transitioning tropical cyclones over the western North Pacific

The cyclone phase space (CPS) method has been utilized to evaluate the extratropical transition (ET) of tropical cyclones (TCs) in many recent publications. However, these studies mainly focused over the North Atlantic basin. In this paper, the CPS characteristics of all the cyclones over the western North Pacific are investigated and discussed, with three parameters calculated from the best-track data of the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center in Tokyo and the Japanese 25-yr reanalysis data. It is concluded that most TCs over the western North Pacific possess the non-frontal and warm-core structure, while a larger number of cyclones that have undergone ET hold the frontal and cold-core structure. The spatial pattern of the CPS parameters indicates that the areas of tropical and extratropical cyclone activities could be demarcated by 30°N. The composite and individual series of three parameters of the CPS indicate that the transformation of −VTU from positive to negative leads to the start of ET, and could be considered as a potential predictor in operationally forecasting an ET event.