  Hurricanes are one of the most extreme storm systems that occur on Earth,
characterized by strong rainfall and fast winds. The terrestrial exoplanets
that will be characterized with future infrared space telescopes orbit M dwarf
stars. As a result, the best observable terrestrial exoplanets have vastly
different climates than Earth, with a large dayside-to-nightside irradiation
contrast and relatively slow rotation. Hurricanes may affect future
observations of terrestrial exoplanets because they enhance the vertical
transport of water vapor and could influence ocean heat transport. In this
work, we explore how the environment of terrestrial exoplanets orbiting M dwarf
stars affects the favorability of hurricane genesis (formation). To do so, we
apply metrics developed to understand hurricane genesis on Earth to
three-dimensional climate models of ocean-covered exoplanets orbiting M dwarf
stars. We find that hurricane genesis is most favorable on
intermediate-rotating tidally locked terrestrial exoplanets with rotation
periods of $\sim 8-10~\mathrm{days}$. As a result, hurricane genesis is most
favorable for terrestrial exoplanets in the habitable zones of late-type M
dwarf stars. The peak in the favorability of hurricane genesis at intermediate
rotation occurs because sufficient spin is required for hurricane genesis, but
the vertical wind shear on fast-rotating terrestrial exoplanets disrupts
hurricane genesis. We find that hurricane genesis is less favorable on slowly
rotating terrestrial exoplanets, which agrees with previous work. Future work
using simulations that resolve hurricane genesis and evolution can test our
expectations for how the environment affects the favorability of hurricane
genesis on tidally locked terrestrial exoplanets.
