The Impacts of East China Sea Kuroshio Front on Winter Heavy
Precipitation Events in Southern China
Abstract
The wintertime Kuroshio sea surface temperature (SST) front have the
significant climate effects on southern China. The study demonstrates a
close relationship between heavy precipitation over Southern China and
Kuroshio SST front in winter. More than half winter heavy rainfall
events in Southern China are proved to be resulted from strong
High-frequency Variability events of the sea surface Wind Coupled with
Precipitation (HV-WCP) over Kuroshio SST front. One day before strong
HV-WCP events, the initial precipitation appears over Middle-lower
Yangtze River due to the significantly enhanced frontal intensity. Then
the precipitation generates low level cyclone and southeasterly wind
anomalies, after it moving into Kuroshio front area because of the
winter monsoon. The significant marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL)
height gradient over Kuroshio leads to plentiful moisture transporting
from MABL into free atmosphere and enhances the local precipitation
again. This process further causes the large-scale stratus rainband
extending to Southern China and enhancing the heavy rainfall locally.
Especially in 2008 winter, several processes of a strong HV-WCP event
followed by continuous weak ones are conducive to the
low-temperature-precipitation disaster in Southern China