Different Roles of Water Vapor Transport and Cold Advection in the Intensive Snowfall Events over North China and the Yangtze River Valley

This study examined the interdecadal variations in the relationship between the East Asian water vapor transport (WVT) and the central and eastern tropical Pacific (CETP) sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in January during 1951–2018, focusing on the meridional WVT over East Asia, which is critical for the East Asian winter precipitation. The results indicate that before the 1980s, an increased southerly WVT over East Asia was generally associated with warm SST anomalies in the CETP during January, whereas, after the mid-1980s, an increased southerly WVT over East Asia was mostly associated with cold SST anomalies in the central tropical Pacific during January. The underlying mechanisms are discussed based on a comparison on the climate anomalies associated with the East Asian meridional WVT between the periods of 1951–79 and 1986–2018. During 1951–79, the meridional WVT over East Asia was mainly modulated by the Pacific–East Asian (PEA) teleconnection, which would induce an anomalous southerly WVT over East Asia corresponding to warm SST anomalies in the CETP. Whereas, during 1986–2018, the connection between the PEA teleconnection and the East Asian meridional WVT was weakened. The connection among the CETP SSTs, the anomalous zonal circulation over the North Pacific, and the East Asian meridional WVT was enhanced. Additionally, the connection among the CETP SSTs, the circumglobal teleconnection in the Northern Hemisphere, and the East Asian meridional WVT was enhanced. The above two enhanced connections opposed the effect of the PEA teleconnection and would induce an anomalous southerly WVT over East Asia corresponding to cold SST anomalies in the central tropical Pacific.

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Decadal Change of Heavy Snowfall over Northern China in the Mid-1990s and Associated Background Circulations

Zhou

Wang

Sun

et al. 2021

Journal of Climate

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Analyses of observation data from 1961 to 2014 by using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) method indicate that the primary mode (a monosign pattern) of heavy snowfall over northern China in winter shows evident variations from a negative polarity to a positive polarity in the mid-1990s. Associated with this decadal change, the southward displacement of the polar front jet stream and northward shift of the subtropical jet stream in the upper troposphere are apparent. Accordingly, a negative height anomaly dominates the region from Lake Balkhash to Lake Baikal and a positive height anomaly occupies the mid-latitudes of the North Pacific in the middle troposphere. Such anomalous patterns in the middle and high troposphere correspond approximately to the northern mode of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) and may favor the interaction of cold airs with moist airflows over northern China, which are helpful to increase local heavy snowfall. Further investigation shows that the shift in the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) from a cold phase to a warm phase in the 1990s may also play a role, through its linkage to the above atmospheric circulations with the aid of a downstream propagation of wave train that emanates from the Atlantic Ocean.

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Different Roles of Water Vapor Transport and Cold Advection in the Intensive Snowfall Events over North China and the Yangtze River Valley

Cited by 4 publications

References 42 publications

Dominant Modes of Interannual Variability in Atmospheric Water Vapor Content over East Asia during Winter and Their Associated Mechanisms

Dominant Modes of Interannual Variability in Atmospheric Water Vapor Content over East Asia during Winter and Their Associated Mechanisms

Interdecadal Variation of the Relationship between East Asian Water Vapor Transport and Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperatures during January and Associated Mechanisms

Decadal Change of Heavy Snowfall over Northern China in the Mid-1990s and Associated Background Circulations

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