Finescale Spiral Rainbands Modeled in a High-Resolution Simulation of Typhoon Rananim (2004)

Finescale spiral rainbands associated with Typhoon Rananim （2004） with the band length ranging from 10 to nearly 100 km and band width varying from 5 to 15 km are simulated using the Fifth-Generation NCAR/Penn State Mesoscale Model （MM5）. The finescale rainbands have two types： one intersecting the eyewall and causing damaging wind streaks, and the other distributed azimuthally along the inner edge of the eyewall with a relatively short lifetime. The formation of the high-velocity wind streaks results from the interaction of the azimuthal flow with the banded vertical vorticity structure triggered by tilting of the horizontal vorticity. The vertical advection of azimuthal momentum also leads to acceleration of tangential flow at a relatively high Mtitude. The evolution and structures of the bands are also examined in this study. Further investigation suggests that the boundary inflection points are related tightly to the development of the finescale rainbands, consistent with previous findings using simple symmetric models. In particular; the presence of the level of inflow reversal in the boundary layer is a crucial factor controlling the formation of these bands. The near-surface wavy peaks of vertical vorticity always follow the inflection points in radial flow. The mesoscale vortices and associated convective updrafts in the eyewall are considered to strengthen the activity of finescale bands, and the updrafts can trigger the formation of the bands as they reside in the environment with inflow reversal in the boundary layer.

Variations in the Summer Monsoon Rainbands Across Eastern China over the Past 300 Years

Based on reconstructions of precipitation events from the rain and snowfall archives of the Qing Dynasty （1736-1911）, the drought/flood index data mainly derived from Chinese local gazettes from 1736-2000, and the observational data gathered since 1951, the spatial patterns of monsoon rainbands are analyzed at different time scales. Findings indicate that monsoon rainfall in northern China and the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River have significant inter-annual （e.g., 5-7-yr and 2-4-yr） as well as inter-decadal （e.g., 20-30-yr and quasi-10-yr） fluctuation signals. The spatial patterns in these areas also show significant cycles, such as on a 60-80-yr time scale, a reversal phase predominates the entire period from 1736-2000; on a quasi-30-yr time scale, a consistent phase was prevalent from 1736 to 2000; and on a 20-yr time scale, the summer monsoon rains show different spatial patterns before and after 1870.

A Case Study of Warm Sector Rainbands in North China

This article investigates in detail the structure, genesis and development of parallel-type warm sector rainbands from radar observations. By comparing these observations with diagnostic results from temperature, pressure, moisture and wind data, which are both actually observed and numerically generated by a mesoscale model, and the theory of symmetric instability, it is found that the conditional symmetric instability might be responsible for the formation and development of these rainbands.

Characteristics of South Asia High in Summer in 2010 and Its Relationship with Rainbands in China

The characteristics of the South Asia high (SAH) and subtropical westerly jets in the summer of 2010 and their relationship with the changes in rainband in China were analyzed. As shown by the results, the SAH in the upper troposphere extended northward relatively late in June 2010. Correspondingly, the subtropical westerly jets on the north side of the SAH jumped northward comparatively late, thus delaying the formation of a strong divergence field in the upper air over the Yangtze-Huaihe River valley. This was one of the main causes for the late onset of plum rains in the Yangtze-Huaihe River valley. In July, there was a vertical structure consisting of upper-level divergence and low-level convergence near the subtropical westerly jets on the north side of the SAH and in the air stream dispersal area on the northeast side of the eastward-extending SAH, which was the dynamic mechanism bringing about frequent and extremely heavy rainstorms during the plum rain period in this year. The SAH in the upper troposphere affected the subtropical high in the lower stratosphere, and thereby led to changes in the main rainband location in China.

Direct/indirect effects of aerosols and their separate contributions to Typhoon Lupit(2009):Eyewall versus peripheral rainbands

As a typhoon approaches the continent,the position where anthropogenic aerosols penetrate,the convection competition between the eyewall and peripheral rainbands,and the separate contributions of direct aerosol-radiation interactions(ARI)and indirect aerosol-cloud interactions(ACI),yield uncertainties in the convection intensification area and hence the typhoon intensity.Typhoon Lupit(2009)was simulated using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with Chemistry(WRF-Chem)to investigate and isolate the direct and indirect effects of aerosols on the intensity,convection,and precipitation of the typhoon.Three simulations(CTL,CLEAN,and CTLARIOFF)were designed,representing a polluted case(CTL,considering the ingestion of anthropogenic aerosols with ARI and ACI),a clean maritime case(CLEAN,mainly with sea salt aerosols),and a polluted case without aerosol radiative forcing(CTLARIOFF,as per CTL but without ARI).The results showed that anthropogenic aerosols could penetrate into both the peripheral rainbands and the eyewall when the typhoon was approaching the Asian continent.Owing to the representation of the real aerosol scenario,the simulated typhoon intensity weakened and was closer to observed values in the CTL experiment.The ARI dominated over ACI with the opposite effects.Specifically,the ACI mainly enhanced the formation of ice-phase hydrometeors within the upper level of the eyewall with more freezing latent heat releases,leading to an invigoration of eyewall convection.These excess ice-phase particles melted after they descended into the warm layer below the 0°C level,which accelerated the accretion of cloud droplets by raindrops(Pcacr)and hence the mixed phase precipitation process in the eyewall.The dynamic feedback induced by the ACI enhanced the boundary layer inflow and the upper layer outflow,supporting the maintenance of strong eyewall convection and intensification of the typhoon.Inversely,the ARI heated the distant periphery low-level atmosphere at an altitude of 1-2 km by the absorbing polluted aerosols.The heated air,driven by the radial inflow,firstly went through the periphery rainbands of the typhoon and invigorated convection there due to the low-level warming.Then,the enhanced periphery convection inhibited the further transport of warm moist air into the eyewall,resulting in weakening of the eyewall convection and hence typhoon intensity.In sum,for the polluted scenario,as the typhoon approached the continent,ARI played a dominant role over ACI.The WRF-Chem model with full consideration of aerosol-cloud-radiation interactions is advantageous in terms of reliably simulating typhoon intensity and precipitation distribution.

MESOSCALE RAINBANDS AHEAD OF COLD FRONTS IN NORTH CHINA AND THEIR DYNAMICAL MECHANISMS

Among 33 cold frontal systems passed over the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan area from May to August during 1963—1979,there existed mesoscale rainbands in the warm sectors ahead of 31 cold fronts.These rainbands, according to their orientation,movement,formation and development,can be divided into three types:parallel, angulate and perpendicular type.The basic characteristics,sources and propagation of the three types of rainbands and the severe convective weather associated with the bands are presented.The possible mechanis- ms responsible for the formation and development of the bands are also briefly discussed.

Characteristics and Possible Formation Mechanisms of Severe Storms in the Outer Rainbands of Typhoon Mujigae(1522)

To better understand how severe storms form and evolve in the outer rainbands of typhoons, in this study, we in- vestigate the evolutionary characteristics and possible formation mechanisms for severe storms in the rainbands of Typhoon Mujigae, which occurred during 2-5 October 2015, based on the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data, conventional observations, and Doppler radar data. For the rainbands far from the inner core （eye and eyewall） of Mujigae （dis- tance of approximately 70-800 kin）, wind speed first increased with the radius expanding from the inner core, and then decreased as the radius continued to expand. The Rankine Vortex Model was used to explore such variations in wind speed. The areas of strong stormy rainbands were mainly located in the northeast quadrant of Mujigae, and overlapped with the areas of high winds within approximately 300-550 km away from the inner core, where the strong winds were conducive to the development of strong storms. A severe convective cell in the rainbands de- veloped into waterspout at approximately 500 km to the northeast of the inner core, when Mujigae was strengthening before it made landfall. Two severe convective cells in the rainbands developed into two tornadoes at approximately 350 km to the northeast of the inner core after Mujigae made landfall. The radar echo bands enhanced to 60 dBZ when mesocyclones occurred in the rainbands and induced tornadoes. The radar echoes gradually weakened after the mesocyclones weakened. The tops of parent clouds of the mesocyclones elevated at first, and then suddenly dropped about 20 min before the tornadoes appeared. Thereby, the cloud top variation has the potential to be used as an early warning of tornado occurrence.

Characteristics of extreme rainfall and rainbands evolution of Super Typhoon Lekima (2019) during its landfall

As one of the most devastating tropical cyclones over the western North Pacific Ocean,Super Typhoon Lekima(2019)has caused a wide range of heavy rainfall in China.Based on the CMA Multi-source merged Precipitation Analysis System(CMPAS)-hourly data set,both the temporal and spatial distribution of extreme rainfall is analyzed.It is found that the heavy rainfall associated with Lekima includes three main episodes with peaks at 3,14 and 24 h after landfall,respectively.The first two rainfall episodes are related to the symmetric outburst of the inner rainband and the persistence of outer rainband.The third rainfall episode is caused by the influence of cold,dry air from higher latitudes and the peripheral circulation of the warm moist tropical storm.The averaged rainrate of inner rainbands underwent an obvious outburst within 6 h after landfall.The asymmetric component of the inner rainbands experienced a transport from North(West)quadrant to East(South)quadrant after landfall which was related to the storm motion other than the Vertical Wind Shear(VWS).Meanwhile the outer rainband in the vicinity of three times of the Radius of Maximum Wind(RMW)was active over a 12-h period since the decay of the inner rainband.The asymmetric component of the outer rainband experienced two significant cyclonical migrations in the northern semicircle.

The Conservation of Helicity in Hurricane Andrew(1992)and the Formation of the Spiral Rainband

The characteristics of helicity in a hurricane are presented by calculating the MM5 model output in addition to theoretical analysis. It is found that helicity in a hurricane mainly depends on its horizontal component, whose magnitude is about 100 to 1000 times larger than its vertical component. It is also found that helicity is approximately conserved in the hurricane. Since the fluid has the intention to adjust the wind shear to satisfy the conservation of helicity, the horizontal vorticity is even larger than the vertical vorticity, and the three-dimensional vortices slant to the horizontal plane except in the inner eye. There are significant horizontal vortices and inhomogeneous helical flows in the hurricane. The formation of the spiral rainband is discussed by using the law of horizontal helical flows. It is closely related to the horizontal strong vortices and inhomogeneous helical flows.

Characteristics of the Outer Rainband Stratiform Sector in Numerically Simulated Tropical Cyclones:Lower-Layer Shear versus Upper-Layer Shear

Idealized numerical simulations are conducted in this study to comparatively investigate the characteristics of the stratiform sector in the outer rainbands of tropical cyclones(TCs)in lower-and upper-layer vertical wind shear(VWS)with moderate magnitude.Consistent with the results in previous studies,the outer rainband stratiform sector of the TCs simulated in both experiments is generally located downshear left.Upper-layer VWS tends to produce stronger asymmetric outflow at upper levels in the downshear-left quadrant than lower-layer shear.This stronger asymmetric outflow transports more water vapor radially outward from the inner core to the outer core at upper levels in the downshear-left quadrant in the upper-layer shear experiment.More depositional growth of both graupel and cloud ice thus occurs downshear left in upper layers in the outer core,yielding more diabatic heating and stronger upward motions,particularly in the stratiformdominated part of the stratiform sector in the upper-layer shear experiment.Resultingly,a better-organized stratiform sector in the outer rainbands is found in the upper-layer VWS experiment than in the lower-layer VWS experiment.The diabatic heating associated with the stratiform sector produces strong midlevel outflow on the radially inward side of,and weak midlevel inflow on the radially outward side of,the heating core,with lower-level inflow beneath the midlevel outflow and upper-level inflow above.The upper-layer VWS tends to produce a deeper asymmetric inflow layer in the outer rainband stratiform sector,with more significant lower-level inflow and tangential jets in the upper-layer VWS experiment.

The Dynamical Characteristics and Wave Structure of Typhoon Rananim (2004)

Typhoon Rananim （2004） was one of the severest typhoons landfalling the Chinese mainland from 1996 to 2004. It brought serious damage and induced prodigious economical loss. Using a new generation of mesoscale model, named the Weather Research and Forecasting （WRF） modeling system, with 1.667 km grid horizontal spacing on the finest nested mesh, Rananim was successfully simulated in terms of track, intensity, eye, eyewall, and spiral rainbands. We compared the structures of Rananim to those of hurricanes in previous studies and observations to assess the validity of simulation. The three-dimensional （3D） dynamic and thermal structures of eye and eyewall were studied based on the simulated results. The focus was investigation of the characteristics of the vortex Rossby waves in the inner-core region. We found that the Rossby vortex waves propagate azimuthally upwind against the azimuthal mean tangential flow around the eyewall, and their period was longer than that of an air parcel moving within the azimuthal mean tangential flow. They also propagated outward against the boundary layer inflow of the azimuthal mean vortex. Puthermore, we studied the connection between the spiral potential vorticity （PV） bands and spiral rainbands, and found that the vortex Rossby waves played an important role in the formation process of spiral rainbands.

Meridional Displacement of the East Asian Upper-tropospheric Westerly Jet and Its Relationship with the East Asian Summer Rainfall in CMIP5 Simulations

As the first leading mode of upper-tropospheric circulation in observations, the meridional displacement of the East Asian westerly jet (EAJ) varies closely with the East Asian rainfall in summer. In this study, the interannual variation of the EAJ meridional displacement and its relationship with the East Asian summer rainfall are evaluated, using the historical simulations of CMIP5 (phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project). The models can generally reproduce the meridional displacement of the EAJ, which is mainly manifested as the first principal mode in most of the simulations. For the relationship between the meridional displacement of the EAJ and East Asian rainfall, almost all the models depict a weaker correlation than observations and exhibit considerably large spread across the models. It is found that the discrepancy in the interannual relationship is closely related to the simulation of the climate mean state, including the climatological location of the westerly jet in Eurasia and rainfall bias in South Asia and the western North Pacific. In addition, a close relationship between the simulation discrepancy and intensity of EAJ variability is also found: the models with a stronger intensity of the EAJ meridional displacement tend to reproduce a closer interannual relationship, and vice versa.

Precipitation Microphysical Processes in the Inner Rainband of Tropical Cyclone Kajiki (2019) over the South China Sea Revealed by Polarimetric Radar

Polarimetric radar and 2D video disdrometer observations provide new insights into the precipitation microphysical processes and characteristics in the inner rainband of tropical cyclone(TC)Kajiki(2019)in the South China Sea for the first time.The precipitation of Kajiki is dominated by high concentrations and small(<3 mm)raindrops,which contribute more than 98%to the total precipitation.The average mass-weighted mean diameter and logarithmic normalized intercept are 1.49 mm and 4.47,respectively,indicating a larger mean diameter and a lower concentration compared to the TCs making landfall in eastern China.The ice processes of the inner rainband are dramatically different among different stages.The riming process is dominant during the mature stage,while during the decay stage the aggregation process is dominant.The vertical profiles of the polarimetric radar variables together with ice and liquid water contents in the convective region indicate that the formation of precipitation is dominated by warm-rain processes.Large raindrops collect cloud droplets and other raindrops,causing reflectivity,differential reflectivity,and specific differential phase to increase with decreasing height.That is,accretion and coalescence play a critical role in the formation of heavy rainfall.The melting of different particles generated by the ice process has a great influence on the initial raindrop size distribution(DSD)to further affect the warm-rain processes.The DSD above heavy rain with the effect of graupel has a wider spectral width than the region without the effect of graupel.

Numerical Study of the Mesoscale Systems in the Spiral Rainband of 0509 Typhoon Matsa

The Advanced Weather Research and Forecasting Model （ARW） is used to simulate the local heavy rainstorm process caused by Typhoon Matsa over the northeastern coast of Zhejiang Province in 2005. The results show that the rainstorm was caused mainly by the secondary spiral rainband of the Stationary Band Complex （SBC） structure. Within the secondary spiral rainband there was a strong meso-β-scale convergence line generated in the boundary layer, corresponding very well to the Doppler radar echo band. The convergence line comprised several smaller convergence centers, and all of these convergence columns inclined outward. Along the convergence line there was precipitation greater than 20 mm occurring during the following one hour. During the heavy rainstorm process, the Doppler radar echo band, convergence line, and the precipitation amount during the following one hour, moved and evolved synchronously. Further study reveals that the vertical shear of radial wind and the low-level jet of tangential wind contributed to the genesis and development of the convergence columns. The combined effect of the ascending leg of the clockwise secondary circulation of radial wind and the favorable environment of the entrance region of the low-level jet of tangential wind further strengthened the convergence. The warm, moist inflow in the lower levels was brought in by the inflows of the clockwise secondary circulation and uplifted intensely at the effect of convergence. In the convectively instable environment, strong convection was triggered to produce the heavy rainstorm.

Numerical Experiments of Meiyu(Baiu) Rainfall by Quasi-Lagrangian Limited Area Model with Terrain

In this paper, a 10-level Quasi-Lagrangian Limited Area Model is used to simulate the process of Meiyu(Baiu) front of 1979. Some physical processes, such as large-scale condensation and cumulus convection, are included in the model. The simulation results are encouraging. 24-h numerical simulation shows that the invading of cold air from North China and rapidly northward moving of warm air from South China can be successfully reproduced. The terrain with a maximum of 4175 m is incorporated in the model. Three different kinds of terrain schemes are tested and the dynamic effect of the Plateau on the process of heavy rainfall is found to be very important.

Azimuthal Variations of the Convective-scale Structure in a Simulated Tropical Cyclone Principal Rainband

Previous numerical simulations have focused mainly on the mesoscale structure of the principal rainband in tropical cyclones with a relatively coarse model resolution.In this study,the principal rainband was simulated in a semi-idealized experiment at a horizontal grid spacing of 1/9 km and its convective-scale structure was examined by comparing the convective elements of the simulated principal rainband with previous observational studies.It is found that the convective scale structure of the simulated principal rainband is well comparable to the observation.The azimuthal variations of the convective scale structure were examined by dividing the simulated principal rainband into the upwind,middle and downwind portions.Some new features are found in the simulated principal rainband.First,the overturning updraft contains small-scale rolls aligned along the inward side of the outward-leaning reflectivity tower in the middle portion.Second,the inner-edge downdraft is combined with a branch of inflow from the upper levels in middle and downwind portions,carrying upper-level dry air to the region between the overturning updrafts and eyewall,and the intrusion of the upper-level dry air further limits the altitude of the overturning updrafts in the middle and downwind portions of the principal rainband.Third,from the middle to downwind portions,the strength of the secondary horizontal wind maximum is gradually replaced by a low-level maximum of the tangential wind collocated with the low-level downdraft.

A Numerical Study of Mesoscale-Topography Influence on the Heavy Rainband of Typhoon Hato(2017)

During the movement of Typhoon Hato(2017)over land,heavy rainfall occurred when the spiral rainband which was about 100 km distance away from the center of the typhoon passed the Dayao Mountain(with an elevation of 1.2 km).In this study,the structures and forming mechanism of the heavy rainband along the mountain range are investigated by using high-resolution model simulations.The results show the importance of topography in causing the heavy rainband.Upslope of the steep terrain lifts the cyclonic flow to produce strong upward motion when the rainband passes across with high wind speed.At the same time,the warm and humid air is lifted to the steep slope,causing unstable energy to accumulate over the windward slope,which is conducive to the occurrence of rainfall.In particular,the convective cells generated upstream of rainband will further strengthen and develop due to the uplift when they move close to the mountain foot.Some precipitation particles in the convective cells fall to the ground while others move downstream with the intense updrafts,forming heavy rainfall near the summit.As a result,the largest accumulative rainfall coincides well with the orientation of the mountain ridge.

Sensitivity of the Size of a TC to Sea Surface Temperatures in Its Outer Region

We investigated the sensitivity of the size of a tropical cyclone(TC) to warming or cooling sea surface temperatures(SST) in its outer region by simulating the SST beyond a radius of 200 km from the TC center.Sensitivity experiments showed that an increased SST outside the core region of the TC had a negative effect on its size.Warming in the outer region contributed to the local enhancement of the latent heat flux from sea surface,which promoted the development of small-scale convection and warmed the lower and midtroposphere.This warming altered the local pressure gradient force in the upper and lower troposphere in such a way that it weakened the secondary circulation of the TC and led to suppression of the spiral rainbands outside the eyewall.Further analysis showed that the outward-propagating rainband structure favored an increase in the size of the TC.The diabatic heat released by the rainbands induced an inflow at lower levels,facilitating expansion of the TC.The greater the distance of the rainbands from the center of the TC,given the same amplitude of diabatic heating,the stronger the forced inflow,resulting in a faster increase in the size of the TC.

Amplification of the Solar Signal in the Summer Monsoon Rainband in China by Synergistic Actions of Different Dynamical Responses

A rainband meridional shift index （RMSI） is defined and used to statistically prove that the East Asian summer monsoon rainband is usually significantly more northward in the early summer of solar maximum years than that of solar minimum years. By applying continuous wavelet transform, cross wavelet transform, and wavelet coherence, it is found that throughout most of the 20th century, the significant decadal oscillations of sunspot number （SSN） and the RMSI are phase-locked and since the 1960s, the SSN has led the RMSI slightly by approximately 1.4 yr. Wind and Eliassen-Palm （EP） flux analysis shows that the decadal meridional oscillation of the June rainband likely re- sults from both a stronger or earlier onset of the tropical monsoon and poleward shift of the subtropical westerly jet in high-solar months of May and June. The dynamical responses of the lower tropical monsoon and the upper subtropical westerly jet to the 11-yr solar cycle transmit bottom-up and top-down solar signals, respectively, and the synergistic actions between the monsoon and the jet likely amplify the solar signal at the northern boundary of the monsoon to some extent.

Effects of surface drag on low-level frontogenesis within baroclinic waves

Using a three-dimensional nonhydrostatic mesoscale numerical model (MM5), the evolution and structures of baroclinic waves with and without surface drag in case of dry and moist atmosphere are simulated, with special emphases on the effects of surface drag on the low-level frontal structure and frontogenesis. There are two different effects of surface drag on the low-level frontogenesis in the dry case. On one hand, the surface drag weakens the low-level frontogenesis and less inclined to develop the baroclinic wave due to the dissipation. But on the other hand, the surface drag induces a strong ageostrophic flow, which prolongs the low-level frontogenesis and finally leads to the enhancement of cold front. Compared with the no surface drag case, the surface drag increases the frontal slope espe- cially in the boundary layer, where the front is almost vertical to the surface, and then enhances the prefrontal vertical motion. All these conclusions expanded the analytical theory of Tan and Wu (1990). In the moist atmosphere, the influence of surface drag on frontal rainbands is also obvious. The surface drag weakens the convection, and reduces the energy dissipation near the surface when the initial relative humidity is relatively weak. At this time, the confluence induced post-frontal updrafts moves across the cold front and reinforces the prefrontal convection, which is beneficial to the maintenance of the rainband in cold sector. Given the enhancement of relative humidity, the moist convection domi- nates the low-level frontogenesis while the retardation of surface drag on energy dissipation is not obvious, therefore the effects of surface drag on the low-level frontogenesis and precipitation are re- duced.