Changes in Regional Heavy Rainfall Events in China during 1961–2012

A new technique for identifying regional climate events, the Objective Identification Technique for Regional Extreme Events（OITREE）, was applied to investigate the characteristics of regional heavy rainfall events in China during the period1961–2012. In total, 373 regional heavy rainfall events（RHREs） were identified during the past 52 years. The East Asian summer monsoon（EASM） had an important influence on the annual variations of China＇s RHRE activities, with a significant relationship between the intensity of the RHREs and the intensity of the Mei-yu. Although the increase in the frequency of those RHREs was not significant, China experienced more severe and extreme regional rainfall events in the 1990 s. The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the northern part of South China were the regions in the country most susceptible to extreme precipitation events. Some stations showed significant increasing trends in the southern part of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the northern part of South China, while parts of North China, regions between Guangxi and Guangdong, and northern Sichuan showed decreasing trends in the accumulated intensity of RHREs.The spatial distribution of the linear trends of events＇ accumulated intensity displayed a similar so-called ＂southern flooding and northern drought＂ pattern over eastern China in recent decades.

Analysis of Heavy Precipitation Event in Northeast China from August 1 to 5, 2023

This study delves into the multiple weather systems and their interaction mechanisms that caused the severe rainfall event in Northeast China in early August 2023. The analysis reveals that the atmospheric circulation in the mid-to-high latitudes of the Eurasian continent exhibited a significant “two troughs and two ridges” structure, with Northeast China located precisely in the peripheral region of the subtropical high, significantly influenced by its marginal airflows. Additionally, the residual circulation of Typhoon “Doksuri” interacting with the subtropical high and upper-level troughs significantly increased the rainfall intensity and duration in the region. In particular, the continuous and powerful transport of the southwest jet provided the necessary moisture and unstable conditions for the generation and development of convective systems. The rainfall event resulted in nearly 40,000 people affected and crop damage covering an area of approximately 4000 hectares, demonstrating the severity of extreme weather. The study emphasizes that strengthening meteorological monitoring and early warning systems, as well as formulating and improving emergency response mechanisms, are crucial for reducing potential disaster losses caused by heavy rainfall. Future research can further explore the interaction mechanisms among weather systems, limitations of data sources, and the connection between long-term trends of heavy rainfall events and global climate change.

Application of synoptic-scale anomalous winds predicted by medium-range weather forecast models on the regional heavy rainfall in China in 2010

Atmospheric winds from observations and medium-range weather forecast model predictions can be physically decomposed as daily climate wind,planetary-scale anomalous wind,and synoptic-scale anomalous wind.The 850 hPa synoptic-scale anomalous winds were extracted from the numerical model outputs of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF) and the NCEP Global Forecast System(GFS).The results showed that most rain bands in eastern China in 2010 were located along the anomalous convergence lines.To predict the major rain bands by these convergence lines in 2010,the accuracies of the ECMWF products were 100%,85%,and 15% for leading 3,6,and 9 days,while the GFS products showed 53%,15%,and 6% accuracies,respectively.In comparison of the regional heavy rainfalls between observation and the ECMWF model prediction,the useful leading information was about 3.1 days for direct model rain prediction and 6.7 days for convergence systems predicted by ECMWF model.