Wind & forward speed question...

[TexasSam]

Is it true that you add the forward speed to the wind speed on the sice of the Hurricane that it's coming from?
Let's say Wilma has a wind of 100 MPH and a forward speed of 40 MPH, then you add that up to 140 MPH on that side of the storm?
In a way I can see that the storm spins at one speed, and it moves at another. so in this case the wind on the southwest side would be added, and the northeast side would be subtracted.
This is like the question if a tree fell in the forest and no one was there to hear it, would it make a sound?
I have heard this a few times over the years, and normaly it's not a factor.

[inotherwords]

Max Mayfield answered this in a question earlier today. He said that the NHC takes the forward windspeed into consideration when forecasting and that the number you see from NHC includes it.

[Bgator]

Max Mayfield answered this in a question earlier today. He said that the NHC takes the forward windspeed into consideration when forecasting and that the number you see from NHC includes it.

This only happens on the right side which in this case is the south side...

[TexasSam]

Thanks! Over the years I just thought it was a "old wifes tale".

[WxGuy1]

Max Mayfield answered this in a question earlier today. He said that the NHC takes the forward windspeed into consideration when forecasting and that the number you see from NHC includes it.

This only happens on the right side which in this case is the south side...

Well, if the winds are ground-relative.... If the hurricane is moving forward at 20mph, and the max winds in the advisory are to, say, 130mph, that means that those winds are occurring in the forward side of the storm (assuming the storm is symmetric) -- thus the reason why the forward-right quad is often the worst. So, for Wilma, the southern side of the storm would have 130mph, while the northern side of the storm has 90mph winds (add the 20mph to the storm-relative wind in the forward half, and subtract the 20mph from the storm-relative wind in the souther half). Obviously, asymmetry in the ground-relative wind is introduced and becomes more prominent as forward/translational speed increases. This makes landfall location even more important when translational speed is relatively high (>15mph), as it could mean the difference of at least 30mph in wind strength (not even including the effects of friction on the reduction of offshore flow).

[TexasSam]

Interesting! The more information I read, the more I understand, and it's also (true) then. Thanks!

[hookemfins]

Here is the answer from the FAQ's written by Chris Landsea:

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/D6.html