Impact of East Asian winter monsoon on rainfall over southeastern China and its dynamical process

Abstract

AbstractThe present study investigates the impact of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) on winter (January, February, and March, or JFM in short) rainfall over southeastern China (including South China and central eastern China) and its dynamical process by using station observations for the period 1951–2003 and the ERA‐40 reanalysis for the period 1958–2002. It is found that there is a significant correlation between interannual variations of the EAWM and JFM rainfall over southeastern China. Analyses show that in weak EAWM years southwesterly anomalies at 700 hPa dominate over South China Sea, which transports more moisture into southeastern China, favouring rainfall increase. At the same time, the East Asian westerly jet weakens and displaces southward, contributing to the increase in ascending motion over southeastern China. The air temperature over southeastern China shows an obvious decrease at 300 hPa and increase near the surface. This enhances the convective instability and weakens the potential vorticity (PV), which explains the strengthening of ascending motion and the increase in JFM rainfall over southeastern China. In addition, the EAWM has impacts independent of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on JFM rainfall over southeastern China. Moreover, the rainfall anomalies over central eastern China are more closely related to the EAWM than that in South China. Copyright © 2010 Royal Meteorological Society