ANALYSIS OF CAUSATION OF ASYMMETRIC PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH SEVERE TYPHOON DAMREY

Severe typhoon Damrey moved across Hainan Island from 00:00 UTC 25 September to 00:00 UTC 27 September in 2005 and gave rise to a significant rain process during its 48-h passage.The precipitation intensity on the southern part of the island is stronger than that on the northern,showing obvious asymmetric distribution.Using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM) data,the associated mesoscale characteristics of the precipitation were analyzed and the formation of asymmetric rainfall distribution was investigated in the context of a subsynoptic scale disturbance,vertical wind shear and orographic factors.The results are shown as follows.(1) The subsynoptic scale system provided favorable dynamic conditions to the genesis of mesoscale rain clusters and rainbands.(2) The southern Hainan Island was located to the left of the leeward direction of downshear all the time,being favorable to the development of convection and leading to the asymmetric rainfall distribution.(3) Mountain terrain in the southern Hainan Island stimulated the genesis,combination and development of convective cells,promoting the formation of mesoscale precipitation systems and ultimately resulting in rainfall increase in the southern island.

ASYMMETRIC RAINBAND BREAKING IN TYPHOON HAITANG(2005) BEFORE AND AFTER ITS LANDFALL

Using the WRF(Weather Research Forecast)model,this work performed analysis and simulation on the rainband change during the landfall of Typhoon Haitang(2005)and found that breaking may occur over land and oceans leads to distinct asymmetric precipitation.The breaking is related to the topographic effect as well as interactions between the typhoon and midlatitude systems at upper levels.During the landfall,divergent flows at the 200-hPa level of the South-Asian high combined with divergent flows at the periphery of the typhoon to form a weak,inverted trough in the northwest part of the storm,with the mid- and low-level divergence fields on the west and northwest side of the typhoon center maintaining steadily.It intensifies the upper-level cyclonic flows,in association with positive vorticity rotating counterclockwise together with air currents that travel stepwise into a vorticity zone in the vicinity of the typhoon core, thereby forming a vorticity transfer belt in 22–25°N that extends to the eastern part of the storm.It is right here that the high-level vorticity band is subsiding so that rainfall is prevented from developing,resulting in the rainbelt breaking,which is the principal cause of asymmetric precipitation occurrence.Migrating into its outer region,the banded vorticity of Haitang at high levels causes further amplification of the cyclonic circulation in the western part and transfer of positive vorticity into the typhoon such that the rainband breaking is more distinct.