Kurihara, Y., 1993: Hurricanes and atmospheric processes. In Relating Geophysical Structures and Processes: The Jeffreys Volume, Geophysical Monograph 76, IUGG Volume 16, American Geophysical Union, 19-26.

Abstract: Hurricanes are among cyclonic vortices in which the gradient wind relationship holds during their evolution. The development of hurricanes proceeds with a persistent thermal forcing and the continual adjustment of fields to a new state of gradient wind balance. The forcing is largely due to the release of the latent heat received at the ocean surface. The adjustment is achieved by the development of a transverse circulation and the generation of inertia gravity waves. The behavior of the vortex also strongly depends on how it responds and adjusts itself to the environmental forcing. Thus, the spatial and temporal variability of the tropical cyclone climatology is related to regional and seasonal changes in the conditions of the larger scale environment. As exemplified by the evolution of hurricanes, the dynamics of an atmospheric system which undergoes slow structural change is controlled by the processes of forcing and adjustment. An atmospheric process may play a dual role: it contributes to the adjustment of one system while it provides forcing to another system, thus linking atmospheric systems of distinctly different scales.