Abstract
Western North Pacific tropical cyclone data were evaluated for the period 1970–79 to determine characteristics of recurving typhoons near and after recurvature. Case studies revealed a good relationship between typhoon movement speed after recurvature and the upper tropospheric winds at and before recurvature observed along the future typhoon track. This relationship was then determined for a sample of 71 recurving typhoons from 1962 through 1978 and compared with operational forecasts for a subsample of 29 typhoons in 1972–78. The derived simple aid could have reduced the average forecast speed errors by more than 50% in the subsample.
