Southwesterly Water Vapor Transport Induced by Tropical Cyclones over the Bay of Bengal during the South Asian Monsoon Transition Period

Based on best-track,outgoing longwave radiation,sea surface temperature,and reanalysis data during 1979-2018,statistical and composite analyses were performed to investigate characteristics of the southwesterly water vapor transport(WVT)induced by Bay of Bengal(BoB)tropical cyclones(TCs)during the South Asian summer monsoon(SASM)transition period.The results show that the BoB TCs mainly occur several days before/after the date of SASM onset(retreat)in May(October-November),thereby imposing an important impact on southwesterly WVT to China in those two periods.The WVT is significant in the middle and lower troposphere during the bimodal peak periods of BoB TCs,with large values over the east-central BoB,southeastern Tibetan Plateau,and Southwest and South China.The WVT is located more northward at 500 hPa than at 700 hPa,reaching close to 35°N and covering the southeastern Tibetan Plateau owing to weakening of the plateau’s blocking effect at upper levels.The BoB TCs mainly increase the northward and eastward WVT anomalies compared to the climatological mean.Furthermore,the large southerly WVT anomalies are located in the lower troposphere in low-latitude areas,while the large westerly WVT anomalies appear mainly in the middle troposphere in high-latitude areas.This indicates an enhanced WVT channel where the southwesterly moisture jet first climbs northwards to the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and then turns eastwards to East China under the influence of the BoB TCs.Besides,the southwesterly WVT during the TC period in May is stronger and more widespread than that in October-November,being about twice the latter in value.However,their maximum contributions to the climatological average do not differ much,with maximums of 12%and19%occurring in Southwest China during the bimodal periods,respectively,implying an important role played by the BoB TCs in the WVT.

The Record-breaking Mei-yu in 2020 and Associated Atmospheric Circulation and Tropical SST Anomalies

The record-breaking mei-yu in the Yangtze-Huaihe River valley(YHRV)in 2020 was characterized by an early onset,a delayed retreat,a long duration,a wide meridional rainbelt,abundant precipitation,and frequent heavy rainstorm processes.It is noted that the East Asian monsoon circulation system presented a significant quasi-biweekly oscillation(QBWO)during the mei-yu season of 2020 that was associated with the onset and retreat of mei-yu,a northward shift and stagnation of the rainbelt,and the occurrence and persistence of heavy rainstorm processes.Correspondingly,during the mei-yu season,the monsoon circulation subsystems,including the western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH),the upper-level East Asian westerly jet,and the low-level southwesterly jet,experienced periodic oscillations linked with the QBWO.Most notably,the repeated establishment of a large southerly center,with relatively stable latitude,led to moisture convergence and ascent which was observed to develop repeatedly.This was accompanied by a long-term duration of the mei-yu rainfall in the YHRV and frequent occurrences of rainstorm processes.Moreover,two blocking highs were present in the middle to high latitudes over Eurasia,and a trough along the East Asian coast was also active,which allowed cold air intrusions to move southward through the northwestern and/or northeastern paths.The cold air frequently merged with the warm and moist air from the low latitudes resulting in low-level convergence over the YHRV.The persistent warming in the tropical Indian Ocean is found to be an important external contributor to an EAP/PJ-like teleconnection pattern over East Asia along with an intensified and southerly displaced WPSH,which was observed to be favorable for excessive rainfall over YHRV.

New Evidences on the Climatic Causes of the Formation of the Spring Persistent Rains over Southeastern China

The spring persistent rains（SPR）over southeastern China（SEC）are a unique synoptic and climatic phenomenon in East Asia.A former study has found that the southwesterly flow which lies on the southeastern flank of the Tibetan Plateau（TP）is one of the deflected westerly flows of the TP,and it is suggested to be the direct climatic cause of SPR.This study found that the southwesterly flow is also highly correlated with the sensible heating of the southeastern TP in interannual variability,in addition to having a high correlation in seasonal variability.These facts suggest that the thermal forcing of the TP is another important climatic cause of SPR.Numerical sensitivity experiments further prove that the mechanical and thermal forcings of the TP are the climatic causes of the formation of the SPR.On the other hand,the Nanling Mountains and Wuyi Mountains（NWM）over southeastern China not only increase the SPR precipitation amount evidently,but also make the SPR rain belt move to the south by blocking the strong southwesterly flow.

Mechanism of the Spring Persistent Rains over southeastern China

The Spring Persistent Rains (SPR) in the areas to the south of middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River or over southeastern China (SEC) is a unique synoptic and climatic phenomenon in East Asia. This study reveals a possible mechanism responsible for the climatic cause of SPR formation through climatic mean data analysis and sensitive numerical model experiments. SEC is located at the down-stream of the southwesterly velocity center (SWVC) which lies on the southeastern flank of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). As a result, there are strong southwesterly wind velocity convergence and moisture con-vergence over SEC. This is the immediate climatic cause of SPR formation. In spring, the seasonal evolution of the southwesterly velocity consists with the surface sensible heating over southeastern TP, indicating that the formation of SPR is related to not only the southwesterly wind of mechanical de-flected flow of TP, but also the southwesterly wind of thermal-forced cyclonic low circulation. Sensitive numerical experiments demonstrate that, without TP, both SWVC and the SPR rain belt will disappear. The southwesterly wind velocity increases almost linearly with the amount of the total diabatic heating with TP rising. Therefore, SWVC is the result of the mechanical forcing and thermal forcing of TP. All these strongly suggest that the presence of TP plays a primary role in the climatic formation of SPR.