Spiral Rainbands in Idealized No-Mean-Flow Simulations of Tropical Cyclones

Many previous studies have recently examined spiral rainbands in numerical simulations of tropical cyclones. Almost all of them have simulated tropical cyclones under idealized quiescent, no-mean-flow conditions, where all winds in the simulation are driven by tropical cyclones only. However, whether spiral rainbands in such no-mean-flow simulations of tropical cyclones resemble those from previous observational studies has not been thoroughly examined yet. This study examines spiral rainbands in no-mean-flow simulations of tropical cyclones. Comparison indicates that the no-mean-flow simulations contain only radially inward-tilting rainbands outside the eyewall, whose structures resemble distant rainbands.