Influences of tropical circulation and sea surface temperature anomalies on extreme heat over Northeast Asia in the midsummer of 2018

A destructive extreme heat attacked Northeast Asia(NEA)in the midsummer of 2018,characterized by the average midsummer Tmax(daily maximum air temperature at 2 m)ranking first during the study period.The current study indicates that the cyclonic anomaly over the western North Pacific(WNP)was an important cause,which presents an anomaly of two standard deviations.The cyclonic anomaly over the WNP was accompanied by anomalous convection,which favored descending and anticyclonic anomalies over NEA through a local meridional cell.The anticyclonic anomaly over NEA corresponds to the northwestward extension of the WNP subtropical high and facilitated the occurrence of extreme heat.The tropical sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA)presents a La Ni?a decaying episode,but the SSTA over the tropical Pacific and North Indian Ocean was weak in the summer.In contrast,the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean(SETIO)was obviously cool,which was the coolest after detrending.The SETIO cooling triggered a low-level southeasterly anomaly,which turned into a southwesterly after crossing the equator,due to the Coriolis force.The southwesterly anomaly extended eastwards and favored the cyclonic anomaly over the WNP.Meanwhile,the circulation anomalies over the SETIO and WNP were connected via a local meridional cell,with the ascending branch over the WNP.Moreover,the above mechanism also operates for the climate statistics,verifying the robust in?uence of the SETIO SSTA.Considering the consistency of the SETIO SSTA,it could be a potential predictor for the climate over the WNP and NEA.

夏季长白山天池站降水量年际变化特征及其对应的环流异常

长白山地处吉林省东南部,作为国家级重点生态功能区,其降水变化特征对该地森林生态系统和水资源结构变化有重要影响。本文基于1979~2016年吉林省47个台站逐月降水资料,探究了长白山天池站夏季降水的气候特征及其相关的环流异常,并与吉林省降水进行对比。分析结果表明天池夏季降水量以及年际变率高出吉林省其它站点一倍左右。此外,天池降水年际变化对应的环流异常与吉林省降水一致,即6月东北亚气旋式异常和东亚高空急流的增强,以及7、8月西太平洋副热带高压增强和东亚高空西风急流偏北,均可引起吉林省和天池降水偏多。另一方面,天池降水变异还表现出其独特的环流异常,与吉林省降水对应的环流异常显著不同或者甚至近乎相反,究其原因为长白山地形所致。本文的结果说明山地的气候和大气环流的关系复杂、多变。

A Decadal Shift of Summer Surface Air Temperature over Northeast Asia around the Mid-1990s

This study identifies a decadal shift of summer surface air temperature （SAT） over Northeast Asia,including southeastern parts of Russia,Mongolia and northern China,around the mid-1990s.The results suggest that the SAT over the Northeast Asia experienced a significant warming after 1994 relative to that before 1993.This decadal shift also extends to northern China,and leads to a warmer summer over Northeast China and North China after the mid-1990s.The decadal warming over Northeast Asia is found to concur with the enhancement of South China rainfall around the mid-1990s.On the one hand,both the Northeast Asian SAT and South China rainfall exhibit this mid-1990s decadal shift only in summer,but not in other seasons.On the other hand,both the Northeast Asian SAT and South China rainfall exhibit this mid-1990s decadal shift not only in the summer seasonal mean,but also in each month of summer （June,July and August）.Furthermore,the decadal warming is found to result from an anticyclonic anomaly over Northeast Asia,which can be interpreted as the response to the increased precipitation over South China,according to previous numerical results.Thus,we conclude that the warming shift of summer Northeast Asian SAT around the mid-1990s was a remote response to the increased precipitation over South China.

Large-scale Circulation Anomalies Associated with Interannual Variation in Monthly Rainfall over South China from May to August

Interannual variation in summer rainfall over South China （SC） was investigated on the monthly timescale.It was found that monthly rainfall from May to August exhibits different features of variation,and the amounts are basically independent of each other.There is a significant negative correlation,however,between May and July SC rainfall,which is partially related to the developing phases of ENSO events.It was also found that stronger （weaker） lower-tropospheric winds over SC and the upstream parts are responsible for more （less） SC rainfall in every month from May to August.Despite this monthly consistent enhancement of horizontal winds,the wind anomalies exhibit distinct differences between May-June and July-August,due to the remarkable change in climatological winds between these two periods.More SC rainfall is associated with a lower-tropospheric anticyclonic anomaly over the SCS and the Philippine Sea in May and June,but with a cyclonic anomaly centered over SC in July and August.

Recent Advances in Monsoon Studies in China

This review provides a synopsis of the major progress that has been made in monsoon studies in China and to further bridge the gap between the Chinese and international meteorological community. It consists of seven major sections. After the introduction, the second section begins with the global monsoon systems and their seasonal variation, based on some new methods proposed in recent years. Besides, some major intraseasonal features of East Asian monsoon, including the onset of South China Sea summer monsoon are discussed. In the third section, we review the interactions between ENSO and the East Asian monsoon, focusing in particular on the results of Chinese meteorologists that indicate the influence of ENSO on the East Asian summer monsoon（EASM） is obviously different from that on the tropical monsoon. Besides the tropical Pacific,other ocean basins, such as the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, are also important to the East Asian monsoon, and this topic is discussed in the fourth section. In the fifth section, we address the role of land surface processes in East Asian monsoon. For example, we describe work that has shown more snow cover in spring on the Tibetan Plateau is followed by a weakened EASM and more summer rainfall in the Yangtze River valleys. The sixth section focuses on the influence of atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere（SH） on EASM, demonstrating how the signal from the SH is likely to provide new clues for the seasonal forecasting of summer rainfall in China. Finally, in the seventh section, we concentrate on the interdecadal variations of EASM. In particular, we look at a significant interdecadal variation that occurred at the end of the 1970 s, and how our understanding of this feature could affect forecasting ability.

The Interannual Variation in Monthly Temperature over Northeast China during Summer

The interannual variations of summer surface air temperature over Northeast China （NEC） were investigated through a month-to-month analysis from May to August. The results suggested that the warmer temperature over NEC is related to a local positive 500-hPa geopotential height anomaly for all four months. However, the teleconnection patterns of atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with the monthly surface air temperature over NEC behave as a distinguished subseasonal variation, although the local positive height anomaly is common from month to month. In May and June, the teleconnection pattern is characterized by a wave train in the upper and middle troposphere from the Indian Peninsula to NEC. This wave train is stronger in June than in May, possibly due to the positive feedback between the wave train and the South Asian rainfall anomaly in June, when the South Asian summer monsoon has been established. In July and August, however, the teleconnection pattern associated with the NEC temperature anomalies is characterized by an East Asia/Pacific （EAP） or Pacific/Japan （PJ） pattern, with the existence of precipitation anomalies over the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea. This pattern is much clearer in July corresponding to the stronger convection over the Philippine Sea compared to that in August.

The 30–60-day Intraseasonal Oscillations over the Subtropical Western North Pacific during the Summer of 1998

The features of 30-60-day convection oscillations over the subtropical western North Pacific （WNP） were investigated, along with the degree of tropical-subtropical linkage between the oscillations over the WNP during summer 1998. It was found that 30-60-day oscillations were extremely strong in that summer over both the subtropical and tro]~ical WNP, providing a unique opportunity to study the behavior of subtropical oscillations and their relationship to tropical oscillations. Further analyses indicated that 30-60-day oscillations propagate westwards over the subtropical WNP and reach eastern China. In addition, 30-60-day oscillations in the subtropics are affected by those over the South China Sea （SCS） and tropical WNP through two mechanisms： （1） direct propagation from the tropics into the subtropics; and （2） a seesaw pattern between the tropics and subtropics, with the latter being predominant.

Circulation anomalies in the mid–high latitudes responsible for the extremely hot summer of 2018 over northeast Asia

This study investigated the contributions of mid–high-latitude circulation anomalies to the extremely hot summer(July and August;JA)of 2018 over Northeast Asia(NEA).The JA-mean surface air temperature in 2018 was 1.2°C higher than that of the 1979–2018 climatology,with the amplitude of such an anomaly almost doubling the interannual standard deviation,making 2018 the hottest year during the analysis period 1979–2018.The abnormal warming over NEA was caused by a local positive geopotential height anomaly reaching strongest intensity in JA 2018.Further investigation suggested that the upper-tropospheric circulation anomalies over northern Europe and the Caspian Sea were crucial to forming this NEA circulation anomaly through initiating downstream wave trains.Particularly,the geopotential heights over these two regions were concurrently at their highest in JA 2018,and therefore jointly contributed to the profound circulation anomaly over NEA and the hottest summer on record.Due to these two teleconnection patterns,the temperature anomalies in NEA are closely related to those in both northern Europe and the Caspian Sea,where the similarly extreme warming also happened in 2018.

Predictability of Winter Rainfall in South China as Demonstrated by the Coupled Models of ENSEMBLES

Winter rainfall over South China shows strong interannual variability,which accounts for about half of the total winter rainfall over South China.This study investigated the predictability of winter （December-January-February; DJF） rainfall over South China using the retrospective forecasts of five state-of-the-art coupled models included in the ENSEMBLES project for the period 1961-2006.It was found that the ENSEMBLES models predicted the interannual variation of rainfall over South China well,with the correlation coefficient between the observed/station-averaged rainfall and predicted/areaaveraged rainfall being 0.46.In particular,above-normal South China rainfall was better predicted,and the correlation coefficient between the predicted and observed anomalies was 0.64 for these wetter winters.In addition,the models captured well the main features of SST and atmospheric circulation anomalies related to South China rainfall variation in the observation.It was further found that South China rainfall,when predicted according to predicted DJF Nifio3.4 index and the ENSO-South China rainfall relationship,shows a prediction skill almost as high as that directly predicted,indicating that ENSO is the source for the predictability of South China rainfall.

Predictability of the East Asian Winter Monsoon Indices by the Coupled Models of ENSEMBLES

The seasonal predictability of various East Asian winter monsoon （EAWM） indices was investigated in this study based on the retrospective forecasts of the five state-of-the-art coupled models from ENSEMBLES for a 46-year period of 19612006.It was found that the ENSEMBLES models predict five out of the 21 EAWM indices well,with temporal correlation coefficients ranging from 0.54 to 0.61.These five indices are defined by the averaged lower-tropospheric winds over the low latitudes （south of 30°N）.Further analyses indicated that the predictability of these five indices originates from their intimate relationship with ENSO.A cross-validated prediction,which took the preceding （November） observed Nifo3.4 index as a predictor,gives a prediction skill almost identical to that shown by the model.On the other hand,the models present rather low predictability for the other indices and for surface air temperature in East Asia.In addition,the models fail to reproduce the relationship between the indices of different categories,implying that they cannot capture the tropicalextratropical interaction related to EAWM variability.Together,these results suggest that reliable prediction of the EAWM indices and East Asian air temperature remains a challenge.

2019年夏季全国气候趋势展望

2019年春夏季,赤道中东太平洋将维持弱-中等强度厄尔尼诺(El Ni?o)。中国科学院大气物理研究所的全国气候趋势预测结果表明,预计2019年汛期(6—8月),长江中下游以南大部分地区降水偏多,其中江南地区偏多2—5成,可能发生局地洪涝灾害;新疆北部、东北北部、四川东部和陕西南部等地降水正常略偏多。我国其他大部分地区降水正常略偏少,其中河套地区降水偏少2—5成。预计2019年登陆台风数正常略偏多。

2018年夏季全国气候趋势展望

中科院大气所ENSO预测结果显示,2018年夏季(6—8月),赤道中东太平洋海温将处于中性状态。中科院大气所的全国气候趋势预测结果表明,2018年夏季(6—8月),全国总体形势为降水趋于常年。部分地区可能呈现偏多或偏少的情况。具体为,东北东部、华北大部、西北地区东部、江南大部、华南北部和中部降水正常略偏多,其中河套地区降水偏多2—5成,可能发生局地洪涝。我国其他大部分地区降水正常略偏少。登陆台风数正常偏少。

Circulation anomalies associated with interannual variation of early- and late-summer precipitation in Northeast China

Summer rainfall is vital for crops in Northeast China. In this study, we investigated large-scale circulation anomalies related to monthly summer rainfall in Northeast China using European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast ERA-40 reanalysis data and monthly rainfall data from 79 stations in Northeast China. The results show that the interannual variation in rainfall over Northeast China is mainly dominated by a cold vortex in early summer (May-June) and by the East Asian summer monsoon in late summer (July-August). In early summer, corresponding to increased rainfall in Northeast China, an anomalous cyclonic anomaly tilted westward with height appears to the northwest and cold vortices occur frequently. In late summer, the rainfall anomaly is mainly controlled by a northward shift of the local East Asian jet stream in the upper troposphere and the northwest extension of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) in the lower troposphere. The enhanced southwesterly anomaly in the west of the WPSH transports more moisture into Northeast China and results in more rainfall. In addition, compared with that in July, the rainfall in Northeast China in August is also influenced by a mid- and high-latitude blocking high over Northeast Asia.

Interannual variation of North China rainfall in rainy season and SSTs in the equatorial eastern Pacific

The rainfall in North China during rainy sea-son (July and August (JA)) exhibits a strong interannual variability. In this study, the atmospheric circulation and SST anomalies associated with the interannual variation of JA North China rainfall are examined. It is found that on the interannual timescale, the JA North China rainfall is associ-ated with significant SST anomalies in the equatorial eastern Pacific, and the North China rainfall and SST anomaly in the equatorial eastern Pacific correspond to the similar variation of the upper-level westerly jet stream over East Asia. A pos-sible mechanism is proposed for the influence of the SST anomalies in the equatorial eastern Pacific on the North China rainfall.

Projected change in the relationship between East Asian summer rainfall and upper-tropospheric westerly jet

The authors analyzed the interannual variability in summer precipitation and the East Asian upper-tropospheric jet (EAJ) over East Asia under the Historical and Representative Concentration Pathways Scenarios (RCPs, including RCP4.5 and RCP8.5), using outputs of 17 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) coupled models. The analyzed results indicate that the models can reasonably reproduce relatively stronger interannual variability in both East Asian summer rainfall (EASR) and EAJ. These models can also capture the relationship between the rainfall anomaly along the East Asian rain belt and meridional displacement of the EAJ. Projected results suggest that the interannual variabilities in precipitation along the East Asian rain belt and in the EAJ are enhanced under the scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 in the 21st century, which is consistent with the previous studies. Furthermore, it is found that the relationship between the East Asian rainfall and the meridional displacement of the EAJ is projected to be stronger in the 21st century under the global warming scenarios, although there are appreciable discrepancies among the models.