Upper-Ocean Response to the Super Tropical Cyclone Phailin (2013) over the Freshwater Region of the Bay of Bengal

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>This study investigates the impact of salinity stratification on the upper-ocean response to a category 5 tropical cyclone, Phailin, that crossed the northern Bay of Bengal (BOB) from 8 to 13 October 2013. A drastic increase of up to 5.0 psu in sea surface salinity (SSS) was observed after Phailin’s passage, whereas a weak drop of below 0.5°C was observed in sea surface temperature (SST). Rightward biases were apparent in surface current and SSS but not evident in SST. Phailin-induced SST variations can be divided into the warming and cooling stages, corresponding to the existence of the thick barrier layer (BL) and temperature inversion before and erosion after Phailin’s passage, respectively. During the warming stage, SST increased due to strong entrainment of warmer water from the BL, which overcame the cooling induced by surface heat fluxes and horizontal advection. During the cooling stage, the entrainment and upwelling dominated the SST decrease. The preexistence of the BL, which reduced entrainment cooling by ~1.09°C day<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>, significantly weakened the overall Phailin-induced SST cooling. The Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) experiments confirm the crucial roles of entrainment and upwelling in the Phailin-induced dramatic SSS increase and weak SST decrease. Analyses of upper-ocean stratification associated with 16 super TCs that occurred in the BOB during 1980–2015 show that intensifications of 13 TCs were associated with a thick isothermal layer, and 5 out of the 13 were associated with a thick BL. The calculation of TC intensity with and without considering subsurface temperature demonstrates the importance of large upper-ocean heat storage in TC growth.</jats:p>