Characteristics of extratropical cyclone variability in the Northern Hemisphere and their response to rapid changes in Arctic sea ice

Extratropical cyclones are critical weather systems that affect large-scale weather and climate changes at mid-high latitudes.However,prior research shows that there are still great difficulties in predicting extratropical cyclones for occurrence,frequency,and position.In this study,mean sea level pressure(MSLP)data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts(ECMWF)reanalysis(ERA5)are used to calculate the variance statistics of the MSLP to reveal extratropical cyclone activity(ECA).Based on the analysis of the change characteristics of ECA in the Northern Hemisphere,the intrinsic link between ECA in the Northern Hemisphere and Arctic sea ice is explored.The results show that the maximum ECA mainly occurs in winter over the mid-high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.The maximum ECA changes in the North Pacific and the North Atlantic,which are the largest variations in the Northern Hemisphere,are independent of each other,and their mechanisms may be different.Furthermore,MSLP is a significant physical variable that affects ECA.The North Atlantic Oscillation(NAO)and North Pacific Index(NPI)are significant indices that impact ECA in the North Atlantic and North Pacific,respectively.The innovation of this paper is to explore the relationship between the activity of extratropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere and the abnormal changes in Arctic sea ice for the first time.The mechanism is that the abnormal changes in summer-autumn and winter Arctic sea ice lead to the phase transition of the NPI and NAO,respectively,and then cause the occurrence of ECA in the North Pacific and North Atlantic,respectively.Arctic sea ice plays a crucial role in the ECA in the Northern Hemisphere by influencing the polar vortex and westerly jets.This is the first exploration of ECAs in the Northern Hemisphere using Arctic sea ice,which can provide some references for the in-depth study and prediction of ECAs in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Combined Effects of the Tropical and Extratropical Quasi-biweekly Oscillations on the Record-setting Mei-yu Rainfall in the Summer of 2020

During June-July 2020,the strongest recorded mei-yu rainfall occurred in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.The rainfall processes exhibited an obvious quasi-biweekly(biweekly in brief)variability,and there are altogether five cycles.It is found that the biweekly rainfall cycle mainly arises from the collaborative effects of biweekly variabilities from both the tropics and extratropics.As for the tropics,the biweekly meridional march and retreat of the western Pacific subtropical high(WPSH)is particularly evident.As for the extratropics,geopotential height anomalies near Lake Baikal are active.The former is attributed to the intensified biweekly activity of the southwest-northeast oriented EastAsian Pacific wave train(EAP)originating from the tropical western Pacific,while the latter is associated with the biweekly activities of the eastward propagating Eurasia mid-high latitudinal wave train and the westward propagating North Pacific wave train.Why the biweekly activities of these wave trains intensified is further diagnosed from the perspective of thermodynamical forcing and also from the modulation of interannual background on intraseasonal variability.It is found that the strongest recorded convection anchoring over the tropical western Indian Ocean(IO)triggers anomalous descent over the tropical western Pacific,which modulates the biweekly activity of the EAP.Meanwhile,the anomalous diabatic heating over the IO causes changes of the meridional thermodynamic contrast across the IO to the high latitudes,which modulates the extratropical wave trains.A further diagnosis of barotropic kinetic energy conversion suggests that the active occurrence of two extratropical biweekly wave trains is attributed to the increased efficiency of energy conversion from basic flow.The westward propagation of the extratropical North Pacific wave train is attributed to the weakened and northshifted upper-level westerly,which is caused by the SST warmth near the Kuroshio extension.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE INTENSIFYING AND WEAKENING LANDFALL TROPICAL CYCLONES DURING EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION OVER CHINA

Based on the Tropical Cyclone(TC) Yearbooks data and JRA-25 reanalysis data from the Japan Meteorological Agency(JMA) during 1979-2008, dynamic composite analysis and computation of kinetic energy budget are used to study the intensifying and weakening TCs during Extratropical Transition over China. The TCI shows strong upper-level divergence, strengthened low-level convergence and significantly enhanced upward motion under the influence of strong upper-level troughs and high-level jets. The TCI is correspondingly intensified after Extratropical Transition(ET); TCW exhibits strong upper-level divergence, subdued low-level convergence and slightly enhanced upward motion under the influence of weak upper-level troughs and high-level jets. It then weakens after ET. The increase(decrease) of the generation of kinetic energy by divergence wind in TCI(TCW) at low level is one of the major reasons for TCI's intensification(TCW's weakening) after transformation. The generation of kinetic energy by divergence wind is closely related to the development of a low-level baroclinic frontal zone. The growth of the generation of kinetic energy by rotational wind in TCI at upper level is favorable for TCI's maintenance, which is affected by strong upper-level troughs. The dissipation of the generation of kinetic energy by rotational wind in TCW at upper level is unfavorable for TCW's maintenance, which is affected by weak upper-level troughs.

Variations in Extratropical Cyclone Activity in Northern East Asia

Based on an improved objective cyclone detection and tracking algorithm, decadal variations in extratropical cyclones in northern East Asia are studied by using the ECMWF 40 Year Reanalysis （ERA-40） sea-level pressure data during 1958-2001. The results reveal that extratropieal cyclone activity has displayed clear seasonal, interannual, and decadal variability in northern East Asia. Spring is the season when cyclones occur most frequently. The spatial distribution of extratropieal cyclones shows that cyclones occur mainly within the 40°- 50°N latitudinal band in northern East Asia, and the most frequent region of occurrence is in Mongolia. Furthermore, this study also reveals the fact that the frequency of extratropieal cyclones has significantly decreased in the lower latitude region of northern East Asia during 1958 2001, but deeadal variability has dominated in higher latitude bands, with frequent cyclone genesis. The intensity of extratropical cyclones has decreased on an annual and seasonal basis. Variation of the annual number of cyclones in northern East Asia is associated with the mean intensity of the baroelinie frontal zone, which is influenced by climate warming in the higher latitudes. Moreover, the dipole structure of extratopical cyclone change, with increases in the north and decreases in the southern part of northern East Asia, is related to the northward movement of the baroelinic frontal zone on either side of 110°E.

A Diagnostic Study of Explosive Development of Extratropical Cyclone over East Asia and West Pacific Ocean

In this paper, a diagnostic analysis is made for a kind of explosive cyclone ovcr East Asia and the West PacificOcean in cold season, using the level Ⅲ FGGE dataset. The cyclone started developing at 0000 UTC 30 March, 1979.Q vector analysis shows that ageostrophic wind was obvious in cyclone region. The calculation of different kindsof frontogenetical functions indicates that the development of cyclone was closely related to baroclinicity, especially,at lower levels.Isentropic analysis revealed the three-dimensional structure of cyclone development, that is, ascent of southerlywarmer current and descent of northerly colder current existed around the cyclonic center during the developing process of the cyclone and is very favourable to the release of available potential energy and generation of eddy kineticenergy.Not only shear component, but also curvature component of upper level jet contributed to the explosive development of the cyclone.The computation of convergence of moisture flux demonstrated that the moisture probably came from the tropical ocean. The distribution of water vapor supply in this case was very advantageous to the deepening of cyclone, especially, during the well-developing period.Comparison between East Asia Pacific case and North America-Atlantic case (Ogura and Juang, 1990) hasbeen conducted. The common characteristics were that there existed strong baroclinicity in both cases. However, inthe latter case, the latent heat release was of secondary importance and in our case, moisture also played very important role in certain. stages of the cyclogenesis, especially, during well-developing stage when it moved over oceanicsurface.

A Comparison of Precipitation Distribution of Two Landfalling Tropical Cyclones during the Extratropical Transition

The precipitation distributions associated with two landfalling tropical cyclones（TCs） during extratropical transition（ET） were examined in this study.Their distinction is that the bulk of precipitation fell to the left of the TC track in one TC and to the right in the other.The analyses indicate that,for the TC Haima（2004） case,accompanied by the approach of a deep midlatitude trough throughout the depth of the troposphere,the warm and moist air advection by the southeasterly flow north of TC was favorable for warm advection and frontogenesis to the northwest of the TC.Due to the steepening of equivalent potential temperature（θ e）,the air-parcel uplift along the θ e surface,in collaboration with thermally direct circulation related to frontogenesis,led to enhanced precipitation northwest of the TC.In contrast,for TC Matsa（2005） embedded within a moister environment,a weak midlatitude trough was situated at the mid-upper level.The convection was triggered by the conditional instability at the lower level and then sustained by dynamic forcing at the mid-upper level so that the heavy precipitation occurred to the northeast of TC.For the two TC cases,the precipitation enhancement was also linked to the upper-level anomalous divergence associated with the jet-related forcing on the right side of the jet entrance.From the quasigeostrophic perspective,the advection of geostrophic absolute vorticity by the thermal wind most likely served as an indication reflecting the displacement of the vertical motion relative to the center of the TC.

Heterogeneous tide-surge interaction during co-occurrence of tropical and extratropical cyclones in the radial sand ridges of the southern Yellow Sea

The Radial Sand Ridges(RSRs)area in the southern Yellow Sea are subject to tropical and extratropical cyclone activities frequently,in which the special geometry feature and moving stationary tidal system result in complex storm-induced hydrodynamic processes,especially the tide-surge interactions.We studied a rare weather event influenced simultaneously by an extratropical cyclone EX1410 and Typhoon Vongfong as an example to investigate the characteristics of storm surges,wave-surge,and tide-surge interaction in the RSRs area,and applied a high-resolution integrally-coupled ADCIRC+SWAN model,in which the meteorological forcing inputs are simulated by the WRF-ARW model.The model is validated by records from 4 tide gauges and 2 wave buoys along the Yellow Sea coast.Results show that the tide-surge interactions are of considerable regional heterogeneousness.The surge curves at Lüsi(in south RSRs)and Jianggang(in middle RSRs)have abrupt falls near the time of low tide,where the peak occurrence time of interaction residuals tend to shift towards the mid-ebb period.Significant increase of bed shear stress in shallow waters was proved the dominant factor to affect the tide-surge interaction in broad tidal flats of the RSRs area.Differently,the interaction pattern in the Xiyang Trough(in north RSRs),showed a unique rising in mid-flood period due to the phase advances of real surge waves in relatively deep waters.Therefore,we suggested to the local flood risk management that the tide-surge interaction tends to alleviate the flooding risk in the RSRs area around the time of high tide,but aggravate the risk on the rising tide in the Xiyang Trough and on the falling tide in large-scale tidal flats of the southem RSRs area.

A Study of the Extratropical Transformation of Typhoon Winnie (1997)

The complicated evolutive process of how a tropical cyclone transforms into an extratropical cyclone is still an unresolved issue to date, especially one which arises in a weakly baroclinic environment. Typhoon Winnie （1997） is studied during its extratropical transformation stage of extratropical transition （ET） with observational data and numerical simulations. Results show that Winnie experienced its extratropical transformation to the south of the subtropical high without intrusion of the mid-latitude baroclinic zone. This is significantly different from previous studies. Analyses reveal that the cold air, which appeared in the north edge of Winnie circulation, resulted from the precipitation drag and cooling effect of latent heat absorption associated with the intense precipitation there. The cooling only happened below 3 km and the greatest cooling was below 1 km. With the cold air and its advection by the circulation of Winnie, a front was formed in the lower troposphere. The front above is related not only to the cooling in the lower level but also to the warming effect of latent heat release in the middle-upper levels. The different temperature variation in the vertical caused the temperature gradient over Winnie and resulted in the baroclinicity.

Large Scale Perturbations in Extratropical Atmosphere-Part Ⅰ: On Rossby Waves

This study reexamines the propagation mechanism and geostrophic property of the classical two-dimensional Rossby waves in a non-divergent barotropic atmosphere. It will be found that propagation of large scale atmospheric waves depends crucially on horizontal divergence. A small Rossby number in Rossby waves is not sufficient for the waves to have a small ageostrophic component, because the two-dimensional classical Rossby waves do not manifest the geostrophic balance as good as observed in the atmosphere.

A Numerical Study on the Effect of an Extratropical Cyclone on the Evolution of a Midlatitude Front

The extratropical transition （ET） of tropical cyclone （TC） Haima （2004） was simulated to understand the impact of TC on midlatitude frontal systems. Two experiments were conducted using the Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecast （WRF） model. In the control run （CTL）, a vortex was extracted from the 24-hour pre-run output and then inserted into the National Centers for Environmental Prediction （NCEP） global final （FNL） analysis as an initial condition, while TC circulation was removed from the initial conditions in the sensitivity run （NOTC）. Comparisons of the experiments demonstrate that the midlatitude front has a wider meridional extent in the NOTC run than that in the CTL run. Furthermore, the CTL run produces convection suppression to the southern side of the front due to strong cold advection related to the TC circulation. The easterly flow north of the TC not only decelerates the eastward displacement of the front and contracts its zonal scale but also transports more moisture westward and lifts the air along equivalent potential temperature surfaces ahead of the front. As a result, the ascending motion and diabatic heating are enhanced in the northeastern edge of the front, and the anticyclonic outflow in the upper-level is intensified. The increased pressure gradient and divergent ftow aloft strengthen the upper-level jet and distort the trough axis in a northwest-southeast orientation. The thermal contrast between the two systems and the dynamic contribution related to the TC circulation can facilitate scalar and rotational frontogenesis to modulate the frontal structure.

A Diagnostic Study of Moist Potential Vorticity Generation in an Extratropical Cyclone

Moist potential vorticity (MPV) and its generation may be important in the development of mesoscale structures such as rainbands within cyclones. In an adiabatic and frictionless flow, MPV generation is possible if the flow is three-dimensional and the air is unsaturated. Moist potential vorticity can be generated through the combined effects of gradients in the potential temperature and moisture fields. The diagnosis of MPV generation in an extratropical cyclone was performed with the ECMWF objectively analyzed fields for a system that developed during February 1992. It was found that at various stages during the development of the cyclone, negative MPV was generated: at the north end of the cold front; along the occluded front and the cold front; and in the region of the warm core. This pattern of negative MPV generation is in excellent agreement with the predictions of previous theoretical and numerical studies. After the cyclone ceased to deepen, the region of negative MPV generated in the cyclone was horizontally advected into a saturated area. The area of negative MPV generated both along the occluded front in this case study and in the region of the bent-back warm front in a numerical simulation showed a mesoscale structure with a width of about 200-500 km. It was found that the intrusion of moist or dry air into baroclinic zones was important for MPV generation. In addition, baroclinicity increase (adjacent to the area of condensation) in the regions of high moisture gradients led to significant MPV production.

Structure Analyses of the Explosive Extratropical Cyclone:A Case Study over the Northwestern Pacific in March 2007

The synoptic situation and mesoscale structure of an explosive extratropical cyclone over the Northwestern Pacific in March 2007 are investigated through weather station observations and data reanalysis. The cyclone is located beneath the poleward side of the exit of a 200 hPa jet, which is a strong divergent region aloft. At mid-level, the cyclone lies on the downstream side of a well-developed trough, where a strong ascending motion frequently occurs. Cross-section analyses with weather station data show that the cyclone has a warm and moist core. A ‘nose' of the cold front, which is characterized by a low-level protruding structure in the equivalent potential temperature field, forms when the cyclone moves offshore. This ‘nose' structure is hypothesized to have been caused by the heating effect of the Kuroshio Current. Two low-level jet streams are also identified on the western and eastern sides of the cold front. The western jet conveys cold and dry air at 800–900 hPa. The wind in the northern part is northeasterly, and the wind in the southern part is northwesterly. By contrast, the eastern jet carries warm and moist air into the cyclone system, ascending northward from 900 hPa to 600–700 hPa. The southern part is dominated by the southerly wind, and the wind in the northern part is southwesterly. The eastern and western jets significantly increase the air temperature and moisture contrast in the vicinity of the cold front. This increase could play an important role in improving the rapid cyclogenesis process.

Large Scale Perturbations in Extratropical Atmosphere-Part Ⅱ: On Geostrophic Waves

We have examined, in Part Ⅰ, the propagation mechanism and geostrophic property of classical Rossby waves in a non-divergent barotropic atmosphere. As we found that the non-divergent Rossby waves do not propagate in a hydrostatically equilibrium atmosphere, and do not manifest a good geostrophic property, an alternative large scale circulation pattern of geostrophic waves has been proposed (McHall, 1991a). The propagation mechanism and geostrophic property of these waves are examined in the present study.

Association between Tropical Convection and Boreal Wintertime Extratropical Circulation in 1982/83 and 1988/89

Boreal wintertime extratropical circulation is studied in relation to the tropical convection during the 1982/83 El Niño and 1988/89 La Niña. The anomaly structure of 1982/83 and 1988/89 over the extratropics reveals remarkably different features as the longitudinal tropical forcing region changes. The Rossby wave source (Positive) shows the largest maximum over East Asia in both years due to the persistent heating from the western Pacific warm pool area. However, the sink term shows contrasting features over the subtropics and extratropics between the two years. In the El Niño year, enhanced tropical convection over the eastern Pacific produces the Rossby wave sink at 10°N and shifted eastward over the North Pacific, while in the La Niña year, the sink area is shifted westward over the North Pacific. The contrasting features between the two events in mean-eddy interaction appears especially over the downstream area of the East Asian Jet. The extension (retraction) of the meanflow eastward (westward) to the east (west) of the dateline is related with the effect of the westward (eastward) E-vector and the strengthening (weakening) of the negative anomalies of the barotropic growth of kinetic energy. Hence, almost opposite characteristics between the two events can explain the close relationship of tropical convection and the extratropical internal variability.

Seasonal linkage of the Southern Hemisphere extratropical climate variability to two types of ENSO

This study uses the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis(CFSR) to investigate the responses of the Southern Hemisphere(SH) extratropical climate to two types of El Nino–Southern Oscillation(ENSO)-the eastern Pacific(EP) type and the central Pacific(CP) type in different seasons. The responses are denoted by the anomalies of climate variables associated with one-standard-deviation increase in the Nino3 or Nino4 index. The results show that in austral spring the differences in the ENSO-related anomaly(ERA) patterns of atmospheric circulation between the EP ENSO period(1979–1998) and CP ENSO period(1999–2010) are mainly associated with the change in the ENSO-PSA2 relationship. Such differences affect the ERA fields of surface air temperature and mixed layer temperature, and finally result in significant differences in sea-ice concentration anomalies in the Atlantic sector. In austral summer, significant correlation exists between the variations of SAM and both of the variations of Nino3 and Nino4 in 1979–1998, while the correlation between SAM and Nino4 disappears in 1999–2010. For all seasons, the strength of the climate ERAs depend on if there are close relationship between ENSO and the major climate variation modes of the SH extratropics. For the climate variables, the ERA patterns of surface air temperature are generally controlled by surface wind anomalies and mirrored by the mixed layer temperature anomalies. The mixed layer depth anomalies are primarily modulated by surface heat flux anomalies and occasionally by anomalous wind. There are strikingly strong anomalies of surface heat flux in the autumn of 1979–1998 related to the Nino3 variation, the period when there is only significant correlation between ENSO and PSA2. There are no evidence that the SH extratropical climate variability induced by Nino3 variations are stronger in the EP-ENSO period, and that variability induced by Nino4 variations are stronger in the CP-ENSO period.

A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ON THE DIFFERENT FEATURES OF TC EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION OVER LAND AND OCEAN

The extratropical transitions(ETs)of tropical cyclones(TCs)over China and the ocean east to 150°E are investigated by the use of best-track data and JRA-25 reanalysis spanning 1979-2008.The ET events occurring north of 25°N and in the warm season(from May to October)are extracted from the reanalysis to emphasize the interaction between TC and midlatitude circulation.Statistical analysis shows that 18.5%of the warm-season TCs go through land ETs north of 25°N in the western North Pacific.And 20.5%of the ET events occur over the ocean east of 150°E.Most(62.2%)ET TCs over China gradually die out after ET,but more(70.7%)ocean ET cases have post-ET reintensification.The evolutions in cyclone phase space and the composite fields for land and ocean ETs,as well as the ET cases with and without post-ET reintensification,are further analyzed.It is found that most TCs with ET over China and those without post-ET reintensification evolve along the typical ET phase path as follows:emergence of thermal asymmetry→losing upper-level warm core→losing lower-level cold core→evolving as extratropical cyclone.The TCs undergoing ETs over ocean and those with post-ET reintensification form a high-level cold core before the ET onset.The TCs with land ET have long distance between the landing TC and a high-level trough.That makes the TC maintain more tropical features and isolates the TC flow from the upstream and downstream jets of the midlatitude trough.The structure of circulation leads to weak development of baroclinicity in land ET.On the contrary,shorter distance between ocean TC and high-level trough makes the high-level trough absorb the TC absolutely.Under that baroclinicity-favorable environment,strong cold advection makes the TC lose its high-level warm core before ET onset.The composite fields confirm that the TC with ocean ET has stronger baroclinic features.Generally,the TC at land ET onset is located to the south of the ridge of the subtropical high,which tends to prevent the TCs from interacting with midlatitude circulation.But for the ocean ET,the situation is just the opposite.Similar analyses are also carried out for the TCs with and without post-ET reintensification over both land and ocean east of 150°E.The results further prove that the TC with stronger baroclinic characteristics,especially in the circumstance favorable to its interaction with high-level midlatitude systems,has more opportunity to reintensify as an extratropical cyclone after ET.

COMPARISONS OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TROPICAL CYCLONES EXPERIENCING EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION IN THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC BASED ON DIFFERENT DATASETS

The differences in the climatology of extratropical transition(ET) of western North Pacific tropical cyclones(TCs) were investigated in this study using the TCs best-track datasets of China Meteorological Administration(CMA),Japan Meteorological Agency(JMA) and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center(JTWC). The results show that the ET identification, ET completion time, and post-ET duration reported in the JTWC dataset are greatly different from those in CMA and JMA datasets during 2004-2010. However, the key differences between the CMA and JMA datasets from 1951 to 2010 are the ET identification and the post-ET duration, because of inconsistent objective ET criteria used in the centers. Further analysis indicates that annual ET percentage of CMA was lower than that of JMA, and exhibited an interannual decreasing trend, while that of JMA was an unchanged trend. The western North Pacific ET events occurred mainly during the period June to November. The latitude of ET occurrence shifted northward from February to August,followed by a southward shift. Most of ET events were observed between 35°N and 45°N. From a regional perspective,TCs tended to undergo ET in Japan and the ocean east to it. It is found that TCs which experienced the ET process at higher latitudes were generally more intense at the ET completion time. TCs completing the ET overland or offshore were weaker than those finishing the ET over the ocean. Most of the TCs weakened 24 h before the completion of ET.In contrast, 21%(27%) of the TCs showed an intensification process based on the CMA(JMA) dataset during the post-ET period. The results presented in this study indicate that consistent ET determination criteria are needed to reduce the uncertainty involved in ET identification among the centers.

DIAGNOSIS OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISM OF THE EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION OF A TROPICAL CYCLONE USING POTENTIAL VORTICITY INVERSION OF FRONTOGENESIS

This paper diagnoses and analyses the developmental mechanism of a process of extratropical transition of a tropical cyclone which occurred over West Pacific Ocean based on a diagnosis method of potential vorticity inversion of frontogenesis.The study diagnoses quantitatively the role and effect of dynamic influence of westerly cold troughs,middle-latitude baroclinic frontal zones,cyclone cycles and unbalanced wind fields during the different stages of the extratropical transition of a tropical cyclone,and also discusses the interaction between them and the developmental mechanism.The results show that there are different developmental mechanisms during each stage of the extratropical transition and the processes are also unbalanced.

ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURE EVOLUTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF TROPICAL CYCLONES OVER THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC DURING EXTRATROPICAL TRANSITION

Fifty-eight extratropical transition(ET) cases in the years 2000-2008, including 2,021 observations(at 6-hour intervals), over the western North Pacific are analyzed using the cyclone phase space(CPS) method, in an effort to get the characteristics of the structure evolution and environmental conditions of tropical cyclones(TCs) during ET over this area. Cluster analysis of the CPS dataset shows that strong TCs are more likely to undergo ET. ET begins with the increment of thermal asymmetry in TCs, along with the generation and intensification of an upper-level cold core, and ends with the occurrence of a lower-level cold core. ET lasts an average duration of about 28 hours. Dynamic composite analysis of the environmental field of different clusters shows that, in general, when TCs move northward,they are gradually embedded in the westerlies and gradually transform into extratropical cyclones under the influence of the mid-and higher-latitude baroclinic systems. As for those TCs which complete ET, there is always much greater potential vorticity gradient in the northwest of them and obvious water vapor transport channels in the environment.

Climatology of Winter Extratropical Cyclones over the Coastal Waters of China

The East China coast is one major cyclogenesis region of extratropical cyclones (ETCs) in boreal winter. In this study, the climatological characteristics of winter ETCs passing over the coastal water of China are analyzed by using clustering and composite analysis. Automated cyclone detection and tracking algorithm are used to identify the ETCs, which are further classified into subgroups according to their trajectory features by using the probabilistic clustering algorithm. Six distinct types of straight moving or recurving trajectories with different climatological characteristics are identified in the clustering analysis. Accordingly, the composite analyses also present six distinct synoptic patterns corresponding to cyclogenesis as well as the impact of ETCs on terrestrial precipitation. The spatio-temporal characteristics of winter ETCs’ origination, movement, and impact are revealed by the clustering and composite analyses.