Movement of lifetime maximum intensity locations during the North Atlantic hurricane season

Where a storm reaches its lifetime maximum intensity (LMI) can be a powerful indicator of tropical cyclone intensification patterns. Any changes in this location may demonstrate how hurricanes are affected by climate change. Studies on the annual and decadal trends in LMI location have shown that the latitude where storms are reaching their LMI is shifting, but at different rates and in different directions depending on the ocean basin. In the North Atlantic, for example, LMI location seems to be moving slightly closer to the equator, especially for those storms with the greatest intensities. LMI location patterns have yet to be explored within the hurricane season. We assess how LMI location moves through a hurricane season based on climatological mean locations, showing how time of year affects where a storm reaches its greatest intensity. This work contributes to our growing knowledge on hurricane intensification patterns, which are one of the main ways that climate change affects tropical storms.