Polar lows as arctic hurricanes

Using a recently developed theoretical model of the mature hurricane, we show that the observed difference between the moist entropy of the troposphere and that representing saturation at sea surface temperature can sustain moderately intense hurricanes. Unlike the environments of tropical hurricanes, much of this moist entropy difference results from an air-sea temperature difference. Numerical experiments using an axisymmetric nonhydrostatic model confirm that intense hurricanes can develop in environments typical of those in which polar lows are observed to develop. Due to the relatively large values of the Coriolis parameter, these storms have smaller diameters than do hurricanes. -from Authors