'Brown ocean' can fuel inland tropical cyclones

In the summer of 2007, Tropical Storm Erin stumped meteorologists. Most tropical cyclones dissipate after making landfall, weakened by everything from friction and wind shear to loss of the ocean as a source of heat energy. Not Erin. The storm intensified as it tracked through Texas. Erin is an example of a newly defined type of inland tropical cyclone that maintains or increases strength after landfall. Storms in the newly defined category derive their energy from the evaporation of abundant soil moisture -- a phenomenon that experts call the "brown ocean."

by via ScienceDaily: Latest Science News