The ENSO’s Effect on Eastern China Rainfall in the Following Early Summer

ENSO＇s effect on the rainfall in eastern China in the following early summer is investigated by using station precipitation data and the ERA-40 reanalysis data from 1958 to 2002. In June, after the E1 Nifio peak, the precipitation is significantly enhanced in the Yangtze River valley while suppressed in the Huaihe River-Yellow River valleys. This relationship between ENSO and the rainfall in eastern China is established possibly through two teleconnections： One is related to the western North Pacific （WNP） anticyclonic anomaly in the lower troposphere leading to enhanced precipitation in the Yangtze River valley, and the other is related to the southward displacement of the Asian jet stream （AJS） in the upper troposphere resulting in suppressed precipitation in the Huaihe River-Yellow River valleys. This southward displacement of the AJS is one part of ENSO＇s effect on the zonal flow in the whole Northern Hemisphere. After the E1 Nifio peak, the ENSO-related warming in the tropical troposphere persists into the following early summer, increasing the meridional temperature gradient and through the thermal wind balance, leads to the enhancement of westerly flow in the subtropics south of the westerly jet stream and results in a southward displacement of the westerly jet stream.

Impacts of Two Types of Northward Jumps of the East Asian Upper-tropospheric Jet Stream in Midsummer on Rainfall in Eastern China

The East Asian upper-tropospheric jet stream （EAJS） typically jumps north of 45~N in midsummer. These annual northward jumps are mostly classified into two dominant types： the first type corresponds to the enhanced westerly to the north of the EAJS＇s axis （type A）, while the second type is related to the weakened westerly within the EAJS＇s axis （type B）. In this study, the impacts of these two types of northward jumps on rainfall in eastern China are investigated. Our results show that rainfall significantly increases in northern Northeast China and decreases in the Yellow River-Huaihe River valleys, as well as in North China, during the type A jump. As a result of the type B jump, rainfall is enhanced in North China and suppressed in the Yangtze River valley. The changes in rainfall in eastern China during these two types of northward jumps are mainly caused by the northward shifts of the ascending air flow that is directly related to the EAJS. Concurrent with the type A （B） jump, the EAJS-related ascending branch moves from the Yangtze-Huai River valley to northern Northeast （North） China when the EAJS＇s axis jumps from 40~N to 55~N （50~N）. Meanwhile, the type A jump also strengthens the Northeast Asian low in the lower troposphere, leading to more moisture transport to northern Northeast China. The type B jump, however, induces a northwestward extension of the lower-tropospheric western North Pacific subtropical high and more moisture transport to North China.

Climatic Features Related to Eastern China Summer Rainfalls in the NCAR CCM3

The climatic features associated with the eastern China summer rainfalls (ECSR) are examined in the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Climate Model Version 3 (CCM3) of the United States of America, and run with time-evolving sea surface temperature (SST) from September 1978 to August 1993. The CCM3 is shown to capture the salient seasonal features of ECSR. As many other climate models, however, there are some unrealistic projections of ECSR in the CCM3. The most unacceptable one is the erroneously intensified precipitation center on the east periphery of the Tibetan Plateau and its northeastward extension. The artificial strong rainfall center is fairly assessed by comparing with the products of the station rainfall data, Xie and Arkin (1996) rainfall data and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis (Gibson et al., 1997). The physical processes involved in the formation of the rainfall center are discussed. The preliminary conclusion reveals that it is the overestimated sensible heating over and around the Tibetan Plateau in the CCM3 that causes the heavy rainfall. The unreal strong surface sensible heating over the southeast and northeast of Tibetan Plateau favors the forming of a powerful subtropical anticyclone over the eastern China. The fake enclosed subtropical anticyclone center makes the moist southwest wind fasten on the east periphery of the Tibetan Plateau and extend to its northeast. In the southeast coast of China, locating on the southeast side of the subtropical anticyclone, the southwest monsoon is decreased and even replaced by northeast wind in some cases. In the CCM3, therefore, the precipitation is exaggerated on the east periphery of the Tibetan Plateau and its northeast extension and is underestimated in the southeast coast of China. Key words Eastern China summer rainfall - Model validation - Subtropical anticyclone - Diabatic heating This study was sponsored by Chinese Academy of Sciences under grant “ Hundred Talents” for “ Validation of Coupled Climate models” and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.49823002), and IAP innovation fund (No. 8-1204).