Evolution of the Circulation Anomalies and the Quasi-Biweekly Oscillations Associated with Extreme Heat Events in Southern China

Abstract

Abstract Southern China, located in the tropical–subtropical East Asian monsoonal region, presents a unique anticyclonic–cyclonic circulation pattern during extreme heat (EH), obviously different from the typical anticyclone responsible for EH in many other regions. Associated with the evolution of EH in southern China, the anticyclonic–cyclonic anomalies propagate northwestward over the Philippines and southern China. Before the EH onsets, the anticyclonic anomaly dominates southern China, resulting in stronger subsidence over southern China and stronger southerly (southwesterly) flow over the western (northern) margins of southern China. The southerly (southwesterly) flow transports more water vapor to the north of southern China, thus, together with the local stronger subsidence, resulting in drier air condition and accordingly favoring the occurrence of EH. Conversely, after the EH onsets, the cyclonic component approaches southern China and offsets the high temperature. The oscillations of temperature and circulation anomalies over southern China exhibit a periodicity of about 10 days and indicate the influence of a quasi-biweekly oscillation, which originates from the tropical western Pacific and propagates northwestward. Therefore, the 5–25-day-filtered data are extracted to further analyze the quasi-biweekly oscillation. It turns out that the evolution of the filtered circulation remarkably resembles the original anomalies with comparable amplitudes, indicating that the quasi-biweekly oscillation is critical for the occurrence of EH in southern China. The quasi-biweekly oscillation could explain more than 50% of the intraseasonal variance of daily maximum temperature Tmax and vorticity over southern China and 80% of the warming amplitude of EH onsets. The close relationship between the circulation of the quasi-biweekly oscillation and the EH occurrence indicates the possibility of medium-range forecasting for high temperature in southern China.