Based on the AVHRR high-resolution sea surface temperatures and the tropical cyclone(TC) dataset of Japan Meteorological Agency during 1982—2008,statistical analyses are firstly performed to study effects of Kuroshio over East China Sea on TCs in summer(JJA).The statistical analyses reveal that thirty percent of TC cases are strengthened when they pass the key Kuroshio region,while ninety percent of TC cases across the warm tongue of Kuroshio are intensified.Then,based on the composite analysis method,six rapidly intensified TCs are selected to study the effect mechanism of Kuroshio enhancing TCs,indicating that the increased heat fluxes along the warm tongue of Kuroshio play an important role in strengthening the intensity of TCs.Finally,a mesoscale numerical model(WRF) is used to study the effect of Kuroshio on TC Noguri—a typical intensified case in 2002.The WRF model well reproduces the rapidly intensified process of Noguri when it passes the warm tongue of Kuroshio.Two sensitivity experiments are designed to further explore the influence of the warm tongue on the intensity of TC with different sea surface temperatures.Numerical results show that the enhanced effect by the warm tongue of Kuroshio is much larger than the weakened effect by cold water due to TC-induced upwelling.As a result,the warm tongue of Kuroshio excites cumulus convection and then enhances intensity of TC through increasing sea surface heat fluxes.