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2016 Vol. 33, No. 11

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Recent Significant Tornadoes in China
Ming XUE, Kun ZHAO, Mingjung WANG, Zhaohui LI, Yongguang ZHENG
2016, 33(11): 1209-1217. doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-6005-2
Abstract:
Spatial Characteristics of Extreme Rainfall over China with Hourly through 24-Hour Accumulation Periods Based on National-Level Hourly Rain Gauge Data
Yongguang ZHENG, Ming XUE, Bo LI, Jiong CHEN, Zuyu TAO
2016, 33(11): 1218-1232. doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-6128-5
Abstract:
Hourly rainfall measurements of 1919 national-level meteorological stations from 1981 through 2012 are used to document, for the first time, the climatology of extreme rainfall in hourly through 24-h accumulation periods in China. Rainfall amounts for 3-, 6-, 12- and 24-h periods at each station are constructed through running accumulation from hourly rainfall data that have been screened by proper quality control procedures. For each station and for each accumulation period, the historical maximum is found, and the corresponding 50-year return values are estimated using generalized extreme value theory. Based on the percentiles of the two types of extreme rainfall values among all the stations, standard thresholds separating Grade I, Grade II and Grade III extreme rainfall are established, which roughly correspond to the 70th and 90th percentiles for each of the accumulation periods. The spatial characteristics of the two types of extreme rainfall are then examined for different accumulation periods. The spatial distributions of extreme rainfall in hourly through 6-h periods are more similar than those of 12- and 24-h periods. Grade III rainfall is mostly found over South China, the western Sichuan Basin, along the southern and eastern coastlines, and in the large river basins and plains. There are similar numbers of stations with Grade III extreme hourly rainfall north and south of 30°N, but the percentage increases to about 70% south of 30°N as the accumulation period increases to 24 hours, reflecting richer moisture and more prolonged rain events in southern China. Potential applications of the extreme rainfall climatology and classification standards are suggested at the end.
The Contribution of Mesoscale Convective Systems to Intense Hourly Precipitation Events during the Warm Seasons over Central East China
Zhiwei HE, Qinghong ZHANG, Jun SUN
2016, 33(11): 1233-1239. doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-6034-x
Abstract:
Central East China is an area where both intense hourly precipitation (IHP) events and mesoscale convection systems (MCSs) occur frequently in the warm seasons. Based on mosaics of composite Doppler radar reflectivity and hourly precipitation data during the warm seasons (May to September) from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2011, the contribution of MCSs to IHP events exceeding 20 mm h-1 over central East China was evaluated. An MCS was defined as a continuous or quasi-continuous band of 40 dBZ reflectivity that extended for at least 100 km in at least one direction and lasted for at least 3 h. It was found that the contribution of MCSs to IHP events was 45% on average over central East China. The largest contribution, more than 80%, was observed along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and in the Yangtze River-Huaihe River valleys. These regions were the source regions of MCSs, or along the frequent tracks of MCSs. There were two daily peaks in the numbers of IHP events: one in the late afternoon and one in the early morning. These peaks were more pronounced in July than in other months. MCSs contributed more to the early-morning IHP event peaks than to the late-afternoon peaks. The contributions of MCSs to IHP events with different intensities exhibited no significant difference, which fluctuated around 50% on average over central East China.
Evaluation of WRF-based Convection-Permitting Multi-Physics Ensemble Forecasts over China for an Extreme Rainfall Event on 21 July 2012 in Beijing
Kefeng ZHU, Ming XUE
2016, 33(11): 1240-1258. doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-6202-z
Abstract:
On 21 July 2012, an extreme rainfall event that recorded a maximum rainfall amount over 24 hours of 460 mm, occurred in Beijing, China. Most operational models failed to predict such an extreme amount. In this study, a convective-permitting ensemble forecast system (CEFS), at 4-km grid spacing, covering the entire mainland of China, is applied to this extreme rainfall case. CEFS consists of 22 members and uses multiple physics parameterizations. For the event, the predicted maximum is 415 mm d-1 in the probability-matched ensemble mean. The predicted high-probability heavy rain region is located in southwest Beijing, as was observed. Ensemble-based verification scores are then investigated. For a small verification domain covering Beijing and its surrounding areas, the precipitation rank histogram of CEFS is much flatter than that of a reference global ensemble. CEFS has a lower (higher) Brier score and a higher resolution than the global ensemble for precipitation, indicating more reliable probabilistic forecasting by CEFS. Additionally, forecasts of different ensemble members are compared and discussed. Most of the extreme rainfall comes from convection in the warm sector east of an approaching cold front. A few members of CEFS successfully reproduce such precipitation, and orographic lift of highly moist low-level flows with a significantly southeasterly component is suggested to have played important roles in producing the initial convection. Comparisons between good and bad forecast members indicate a strong sensitivity of the extreme rainfall to the mesoscale environmental conditions, and, to less of an extent, the model physics.
Mesoscale Modeling Study of Severe Convection over Complex Terrain
Ying ZHANG, Zhiyong MENG, Peijun ZHU, Tao SU, Guoqing ZHAI
2016, 33(11): 1259-1270. doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-5221-0
Abstract:
Short squall lines that occurred over Lishui, southwestern Zhejiang Province, China, on 5 July 2012, were investigated using the WRF model based on 1°× 1° gridded NCEP Final Operational Global Analysis data. The results from the numerical simulations were particularly satisfactory in the simulated radar echo, which realistically reproduced the generation and development of the convective cells during the period of severe convection. The initiation of this severe convective case was mainly associated with the uplift effect of mesoscale mountains, topographic convergence, sufficient water vapor, and enhanced low-level southeasterly wind from the East China Sea. An obvious wind velocity gradient occurred between the Donggong Mountains and the southeast coastline, which easily enabled wind convergence on the windward slope of the Donggong Mountains; both strong mid-low-level southwesterly wind and low-level southeasterly wind enhanced vertical shear over the mountains to form instability; and a vertical coupling relation between the divergence on the upper-left side of the Donggong Mountains and the convergence on the lower-left side caused the convection to develop rapidly. The convergence centers of surface streams occurred over the mountain terrain and updrafts easily broke through the lifting condensation level (LCL) because of the strong wind convergence and topographic lift, which led to water vapor condensation above the LCL and the generation of the initial convective cloud. The centers of surface convergence continually created new convective cells that moved with the southwest wind and combined along the Donggong Mountains, eventually forming a short squall line that caused severe convective weather.
Diagnosis of the Forcing of Inertial-gravity Waves in a Severe Convection System
Lingkun RAN, Changsheng CHEN
2016, 33(11): 1271-1284. doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-5292-y
Abstract:
The non-hydrostatic wave equation set in Cartesian coordinates is rearranged to gain insight into wave generation in a mesoscale severe convection system. The wave equation is characterized by a wave operator on the lhs, and forcing involving three terms——linear and nonlinear terms, and diabatic heating——on the rhs. The equation was applied to a case of severe convection that occurred in East China. The calculation with simulation data showed that the diabatic forcing and linear and nonlinear forcing presented large magnitude at different altitudes in the severe convection region. Further analysis revealed the diabatic forcing due to condensational latent heating had an important influence on the generation of gravity waves in the middle and lower levels. The linear forcing resulting from the Laplacian of potential-temperature linear forcing was dominant in the middle and upper levels. The nonlinear forcing was determined by the Laplacian of potential-temperature nonlinear forcing. Therefore, the forcing of gravity waves was closely associated with the thermodynamic processes in the severe convection case. The reason may be that, besides the vertical component of pressure gradient force, the vertical oscillation of atmospheric particles was dominated by the buoyancy for inertial gravity waves. The latent heating and potential-temperature linear and nonlinear forcing played an important role in the buoyancy tendency. Consequently, these thermodynamic elements influenced the evolution of inertial-gravity waves.
Ground-Based Radar Reflectivity Mosaic of Mei-yu Precipitation Systems over the Yangtze River-Huaihe River Basins
Yali LUO, Weimiao QIAN, Yu GONG, Hongyan WANG, Da-Lin ZHANG
2016, 33(11): 1285-1296. doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-6022-1
Abstract:
The 3D radar reflectivity produced by a mosaic software system, with measurements from 29 operational weather radars in the Yangtze River-Huaihe River Basins (YRHRB) during the mei-yu season of 2007, is compared to coincident TRMM PR observations in order to evaluate the value of the ground-based radar reflectivity mosaic in characterizing the 3D structures of mei-yu precipitation. Results show reasonable agreement in the composite radar reflectivity between the two datasets, with a correlation coefficient of 0.8 and a mean bias of -1 dB. The radar mosaic data at constant altitudes are reasonably consistent with the TRMM PR observations in the height range of 2-5 km, revealing essentially the same spatial distribution of radar echo and nearly identical histograms of reflectivity. However, at altitudes above 5 km, the mosaic data overestimate reflectivity and have slower decreasing rates with height compared to the TRMM PR observations. The areas of convective and stratiform precipitation, based on the mosaic reflectivity distribution at 3-km altitude, are highly correlated with the corresponding regions in the TRMM products, with correlation coefficients of 0.92 and 0.97 and mean relative differences of -7.9% and -2.5%, respectively. Finally, the usefulness of the mosaic reflectivity at 3-km altitude at 6-min intervals is illustrated using a mesoscale convective system that occurred over the YRHRB.
Ensemble Mean Forecast Skill and Applications with the T213 Ensemble Prediction System
Sijia LI, Yuan WANG, Huiling YUAN, Jinjie SONG, Xin XU
2016, 33(11): 1297-1305. doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-6155-2
Abstract:
Ensemble forecasting has become the prevailing method in current operational weather forecasting. Although ensemble mean forecast skill has been studied for many ensemble prediction systems (EPSs) and different cases, theoretical analysis regarding ensemble mean forecast skill has rarely been investigated, especially quantitative analysis without any assumptions of ensemble members. This paper investigates fundamental questions about the ensemble mean, such as the advantage of the ensemble mean over individual members, the potential skill of the ensemble mean, and the skill gain of the ensemble mean with increasing ensemble size. The average error coefficient between each pair of ensemble members is the most important factor in ensemble mean forecast skill, which determines the mean-square error of ensemble mean forecasts and the skill gain with increasing ensemble size. More members are useful if the errors of the members have lower correlations with each other, and vice versa. The theoretical investigation in this study is verified by application with the T213 EPS. A typical EPS has an average error coefficient of between 0.5 and 0.8; the 15-member T213 EPS used here reaches a saturation degree of 95% (i.e., maximum 5% skill gain by adding new members with similar skill to the existing members) for 1-10-day lead time predictions, as far as the mean-square error is concerned.
Asymmetric Distribution of Convection in Tropical Cyclones over the Western North Pacific Ocean
Lu YANG, Jianfang FEI, Xiaogang HUANG, Xiaoping CHENG, Xiangrong YANG, Juli DING, Wenli SHI
2016, 33(11): 1306-1321. doi: 10.1007/s00376-016-5277-x
Abstract:
Forecasts of the intensity and quantitative precipitation of tropical cyclones (TCs) are generally inaccurate, because the strength and structure of a TC show a complicated spatiotemporal pattern and are affected by various factors. Among these, asymmetric convection plays an important role. This study investigates the asymmetric distribution of convection in TCs over the western North Pacific during the period 2005-2012, based on data obtained from the Feng Yun 2 (FY2) geostationary satellite. The asymmetric distributions of the incidence, intensity and morphology of convections are analyzed. Results show that the PDFs of the convection occurrence curve to the azimuth are sinusoidal. The rear-left quadrant relative to TC motion shows the highest occurrence rate of convection, while the front-right quadrant has the lowest. In terms of intensity, weak convections are favored in the front-left of a TC at large distances, whereas strong convections are more likely to appear to the rear-right of a TC within a 300 km range. More than 70% of all MCSs examined here are elongated systems, and meso-β enlongated convective systems (MβECSs) are the most dominant type observed in the outer region of a TC. Smaller MCSs tend to be more concentrated near the center of a TC. While semi-circular MCSs [MβCCSs, MCCs (mesoscale convective complexes)] show a high incidence rate to the rear of a TC, elongated MCSs [MβECSs, PECSs (persistent elongated convective systems)] are more likely to appear in the rear-right quadrant of a TC within a range of 400 km.