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Frequent occurrences of extreme heats in recent years pose a threat to the local society, economy, and ecosystem in Southern China. Understanding the process and predictability of these heat events is crucial for scientific research and policy-making. The long-term variation characteristics and the corresponding driving factors of high-temperature days (HTDs) and surface air temperature (SAT) in midsummer in Southern China were analyzed by observed data of meteorological stations and atmospheric reanalysis data. The results reveal an abrupt rise in HTDs around the early 2000s during the period of 1979–2021, rather than a sustained increase. Prior to and after this mutation, no clear trend is observed. The changes in SAT align closely with the variations in HTDs. The abrupt increase in solar radiation, resulting from a decrease in total cloud cover, is identified as the direct cause of the SAT change. In the decade following the abrupt change point, significant anomalous descent motion and low-level divergent winds over Southern China are observed, creating favorable climatic conditions for the rise in SAT. The primary driving factor behind these circulation changes is identified as the Pacific interdecadal oscillation, which shifted from a positive to a negative phase during the same period. This shift led to the strengthening of the Walker circulation and the formation of an anomalous anticyclone over the northwest Pacific. It is worth noting that current mainstream climate dynamical models failed to capture the abrupt rise in SAT, instead exhibiting a sustained increasing trend that compromised the accuracy of the forecast. This discrepancy may be attributed to the models' slow response to rapid changes in sea surface temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slowly varying soil temperature can exert local and nonlocal influences on regional climate system, and may thus provide a critical source of subseasonal-to-seasonal climate prediction. In this study, we identify that soil temperature in May over the key region of Central Asia (42 °N–50 °N, 62 °E–80°E, KRCA) from Noah, Mosaic, CLM and ERA-interim datasets is closely linked to variations of the surface air temperature, daily maximum temperature and hot days over Northeastern China in summer (June–July–August), with correlation coefficients of regional average detrended time series ranging from 0.42 to 0.54, and all significant at the 99% confidence level for the period of 1979–2018. The possible physical mechanism behind the substantial downstream impacts of soil temperature over Central Asia are explored via diagnostical analysis combined with regional climate model experiments. Warmer soil temperature in May over the KRCA can keep to the summer and cause positive anomalies of geopotential height in summer over Northeastern China through the Rossby wave propagation, and associated stronger subsidence warming, less cloud cover, more solar radiation reaching the surface, higher planetary boundary layer, and stronger thermal advection at 850 hPa, which provide favorable conditions for warmer surface air temperature particularly in the daytime as well as more hot days. This study further reveals that soil temperature over Central Asia in May makes important contribution to prediction of summer surface air temperature, daily maximum temperature and hot days over Northeastern China in terms of regional average time series and spatial patterns. Our findings highlight the previously-unknown substantial role of antecedent soil temperature condition over Central Asia for summer surface air temperature variation and prediction over Northeastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the intraseasonal variation of PM2.5 concentration in North China and explore the potential influence of the Eurasian mid-high-latitude intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) on this variation. A statistically significant period of 10–30 days is observed for PM2.5 concentration anomalies in North China. Further study suggests that circulation patterns and associated meteorological factors play a crucial role in pollution events in North China. These factors influence local accumulation of pollutants and hygroscopic growth conditions. Based on the ISO phases, it is found that, at the earliest, the circulation in phase 2 provides favorable conditions for pollution. The circulation involved phase 2 leads to a strong increase in surface air temperature, a decrease in sea level pressure, and an increase in humidity in the low layers. These conditions provide favorable meteorological conditions for the accumulation of PM2.5 in North China. The interannual variability of ISO intensity and its impact on PM2.5 concentration in North China has also been analyzed. The results show that the circulation is stronger and propagates more southeastward during strong ISO years. Under the influence of the anticyclonic circulation in Mongolia during strong ISO years, favorable moisture conditions and atmospheric stability contribute to an increase in pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the multi-model ensemble mean of CMIP6 simulations, the future changes in frequency, intensity and duration of Compound (both daytime and nighttime) heatwaves (HWs) in summer over China at various global warming levels (GWLs) under the SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5 are assessed. HWs over China become more frequent and hotter, and the duration of HWs becomes longer compared to those in the recent climate. The magnitudes of these changes are primarily dependent on GWLs, but they are not very sensitive to the scenarios. At 4 ℃ GWL, the frequency of HWs increases by more than fivefold under both scenarios, and the intensity (duration) of HWs averaged under the two scenarios is 2.28 ℃ hotter (3.59 days longer) than the one in the recent climate over the entire China. Meanwhile, the maximum duration of HW events can reach more than 25 days in summer in comparison with 8 days in the recent climate. The changes in HW properties are regionally dependent at the four GWLs. For example, the largest increase in HW frequency is over the Northwest China, the largest increase in intensity in HWs is seen over the Northeast and Northwest, and the largest increase in HW duration is over the Southwest China. The extreme rare events (50-year and 100-year events) in the recent climate would become the norm over China and four sub-regions at 4 ℃ GWL. Overall, seasonal mean warming dominates the changes in HW properties over China at the different GWLs. The seasonal mean warming in summer across China is related to the increases of longwave radiation, partly due to increase in greenhouse gas forcing and partly resulted from increased water vapor and the increase of shortwave radiation (under the SSP5-8.5) over eastern China related to decreases in aerosols and total cloud cover. Furthermore, the regional variations in the water vapor over China are consistent with atmospheric circulation changes. The seasonal mean surface warming results in enhanced upward sensible and latent heat fluxes, leading to increased summer mean daily maximum and minimum of near-surface air temperature and the enhancement of HWs properties over the entire China. Changes of shortwave radiation tend to play a weaker role for surface warming under the SSP3-7.0 than those under the SSP5-8.5, which is related to increased aerosol changes under the SSP3-7.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the coupled variability of temperature and precipitation in eastern China during summer using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to better understand and mitigate simultaneous occurrences of extreme events, such as compound droughts and heat waves. Two dominant modes are identified: the first exhibits a strong warming and drying trend in the region north of the Yangtze River, with the opposite occurring in the south; the second illustrates decadal oscillations in temperature and precipitation, alternating between cool-wet conditions and warm-dry conditions in southern China. The underlying mechanisms for these leading modes are revealed through correlation, composite analysis, and model simulations. The first mode is associated with a negative Pacific-Japan teleconnection in the lower atmosphere and a stationary Rossby wave train across Eurasia in the upper troposphere, which are influenced by global warming and sea surface temperature anomalies in the western North Atlantic. The second mode is linked to alternating active periods of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). The NAO exerts a significant influence on the summer climate in eastern China during its active phases, while the PDO shows an opposite effect when the NAO is less active. These findings provide valuable implications for long-term planning and adaptation strategies to better cope with compound extreme events in eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prolonged low temperature significantly threatens transportation and planting in populous areas and is closely linked to slowly varying forcing such as sea surface temperature (SST). In this study, we reveal the impact of the north–south dipole pattern in extra-tropical North Atlantic SST (DNA) anomaly on surface air temperature (SAT) over southern China in February. The positive phase of the DNA is favorable for a positive North Atlantic Oscillation-like pattern at the troposphere via synoptic eddy vorticity forcing and triggers a southeastward-propagating Rossby wave train associated with the deepened East Asian trough and the strengthened Siberian high, which are conducive to enhancement of the East Asian winter monsoon. A stronger monsoon leads to lower-than-normal SAT over southern China by intensifying southward cold air outbreaks. Considerably, the extremely low temperature over southern China in February 2022 is explainable by this physical mechanism. Furthermore, experiments with a linear baroclinic model verify that the proposed downstream propagating Rossby wave train is mainly associated with the midlatitude North Atlantic SST anomaly. These results emphasize that the extra-tropical North Atlantic SST anomaly should be focused when interpreting and predicting the late winter SAT over southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme heat events happen frequently in East Asia, and may cause great damage to the ecosystem and society. The synergistic effect of the summer positive North Atlantic Oscillation (pNAO) and positive northwest Pacific (pNWP) sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) on the interannual variability of the extreme heat events in the central–eastern China (CEC) is investigated in this study. The two factors act synergistically in strengthening the extreme heat events in the CEC via a series of atmospheric bridges, and the CEC is likely to experience a hotter summer when both the summer pNAO and pNWP SSTA occur. The pNWP SSTA increases the strength of pNAO via the eastward propagating Rossby wave from the western Pacific. The enhanced pNAO induces a stronger eastward Rossby wave propagation across the Eurasian continent, and leads to a strong anomalous anticyclone over the CEC. The significantly increased atmosphere thickness increases the air temperature of the layer, and favors the extreme heat events in the CEC. Besides, the pNWP SSTA also has adjacent effect on the atmospheric circulation over the CEC, which could lead to a positive geopotential height anomaly. Therefore, the summer pNAO and pNWP SSTA act synergistically in influencing the atmospheric circulation over the CEC, and thereby significantly increase the extreme heat events in the CEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the semiannual cycle of surface air temperature (SAT) into account in fitting the finer structure of the seasonal cycle, this study reveals the specific role of the semiannual cycle in modulating variations of the season onsets and lengths for the first time. The time-varying amplitudes and phases of the annual and semiannual SAT cycle for the period 1964 to 2017 in China are extracted from daily observations based on harmonic analysis. The results show that the phase differences between the two harmonics remain essentially unchanged, while the amplitude ratio of the semiannual to annual harmonics tends to increase after 1988. This enhanced semiannual cycle together with the global warming and annual cycle changes jointly led to a much longer summer with an average speed of 7.45 days/10 years and shorter spring, autumn, and winter with speeds of − 2.43, − 1.63, and − 4.26 days/10 years, respectively. Such obvious asymmetry cannot be found in fitting seasonal cycles by only annual harmonics. The average absolute percentages of the linear trends of season onsets and lengths caused by the intensification of the semiannual cycle are 52.63% and 78.66%. It indicates that season onsets and length not only depend on the phase of annual and semiannual harmonic, but also highly related to the strength of semiannual cycle. The time evolutions of semiannual cycle strength in China are found to be significantly correlated to the meridional temperature advection. The anomalous stronger southward wind in December can result in colder temperature and hence intensify the semiannual component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The northernmost margin of the East Asian summer monsoon (NMEASM) is the northernmost position that the East Asia summer monsoon (EASM) can reach. NMEASM has obvious multi-scale variability, and well reflects the wet/dry climate variability in northern China. Predicting the location change of the NMEASM is important for understanding future East Asian climate change. However, the variability of the NMEASM has not been studied extensively, and its underlying mechanisms have not been clarified. To explore the movement of the NMEASM and its causes, we use reanalysis datasets to evaluate the NMEASM index from 1979 to 2018. The NMEASM indicates a decreasing trend over 40 years and a significant abrupt point in 2000, which is positively correlated with the Tibetan Plateau snow cover before 2000 and the Siberian snow cover after 2000 in spring. The decreased Siberian snow cover increases the soil temperature and decreases the atmospheric baroclinicity over Mongolia and northern China after 2000. The decreased atmospheric baroclinicity induces the dipole mode of anticyclonic anomaly over Mongolia and northern China and the cyclonic anomaly over the Sea of Japan by modulating the wave activity flux (WAF). The WAF's southeastward propagation strengthens the anticyclonic anomaly over Mongolia and northern China and the cyclonic anomaly over the Sea of Japan, which weakens the upward movement and water vapor transport, respectively. Hence, the decreased Siberian snow cover in spring modulates the precipitation over Mongolia and northern China and the southward movement of NMEASM by turbulent westerly circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southern China is prone to floods during the wet season, and regional extreme precipitation is expected to become more frequent given the context of climate change. However, the prediction skills and predictability of the spatial distribution of extreme precipitation days (EPDs) over southern China remain unclear. To address this issue, through observational diagnosis and numerical experiment, the present study revealed the formation mechanisms of the two leading modes of pre-summer (May and June) EPDs in southern China, and established a physical-based empirical model (P-E model) to predict the distribution of EPDs in the region. The results revealed the following: (1) the first mode of pre-summer EPDs in southern China displayed a uniform pattern, while the second mode presented a meridional dipole pattern. The uniform pattern of the first mode is associated with the tropical western North Pacific anomalous anticyclone (TWPAC), whereas the meridional dipole pattern of the second mode is related to the subtropical western North Pacific anomalous anticyclone (SWPAC); (2) the spring North Atlantic tripole sea surface temperature (SST) pattern, the northern North America surface air temperature, and the snow cover depth over central Siberia contribute to the variation of the first mode and TWPAC, whereas the spring extratropical North Atlantic dipole SST pattern and the spring change of sea ice concentration over the Barents and Kara seas are physically linked with the variation of the second mode and SWPAC; (3) based on these predictors, the established P-E model demonstrated predictive skill with regard to the principal components of the first two modes, and the spatial distribution of EPDs in southern China was reconstructed. The areal mean temporal correlation coefficient skill for the independent prediction period (2011–2021) was 0.34, while for the pattern correlation coefficient skill averaged over the entire period was 0.28. In comparison with the maximum attainable skills, both metrics indicate potential for improvement. The findings of this study represent a reference for the prediction and predictability of the spatial distribution of pre-summer EPDs in southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive heat can cause discomfort, stress even mortality to humans. We investigate the multifaceted characteristics of summer heat and the affected population across China using a composite heat index (HI) based on meteorological observations and the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 climate models. We highlight that HI is only applicable when maximum air temperature is above 26.7 ℃. From 1961 to 2014, China has experienced increasing heat days (1.05 day/10a) and severity (0.15 ℃/10a) with more population influenced by expanding heat extent. Simultaneously, increases in the frequency (7.58–14.80 times), duration (0.46–1.23 days) and intensity (1.00–1.42 ℃/day) of heat events are detected with increased population exposure (9.33 × 105–5.59 × 106 times·persons). In the future, increases in heat severity, spatial extent, and the affected population would be aggravated from 1.5 to 2 to 3 ℃ warming. Dangerous heat events would experience increases in frequency (12.67–70.81 times), duration (0.85–7.21 days), intensity (1.78–8.57 ℃/day), and population exposure (2.06 × 106–3.18 × 107 times·persons) under a warming climate. Some regions over the Tibetan Plateau and southwest China would be affected by expanding cautionary and extremely cautionary heat. Northwest China would experience intensified dangerous heat events whereas southeastern China would face longer-lasting heat events with stronger intensity. Precautionary strategies are essential for these regions under risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud-radiation process has a strong impact on surface air temperature (SAT). Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, this study investigates the effects of cumulus and radiation parameterization on SAT simulation over Eastern China (EC) during the summer season from 2001 to 2020. Four experiments are performed at a 30 km resolution using the combination of two cumulus schemes (KF and KF-CUP) and two radiation schemes (CAM and RRTMG). The results indicate that the KF and RRTMG scheme can produce warmer SAT than KF-CUP and CAM, respectively. By decomposing the differences in SAT simulation, it is found that KF and RRTMG have greater surface downward shortwave radiation (DSR), and the DSR shows a significant positive correlation with SAT in most parts of EC. Further analysis reveals that low-level cloud (LC) can strongly reflect the DSR, and the LC fraction (LCF) of KF and RRTMG is less than that of KF-CUP and CAM, respectively. The reason for this phenomenon is that the sub-grid cumulus heating rate is higher in KF and RRTMG, resulting in their higher air temperature (T) and greater differences between T and dew point (Td), which is not conducive to the formation of large-scale stratiform cloud and the increase of LCF. As a result, KF and RRTMG have more DSR and higher SAT than KF-CUP and CAM, respectively. The same mechanism can also explain the differences in the sub-seasonal cycle simulations between the four experiments. By comparing the SAT error in each subregion, this study can also provide a reference for future dynamic downscaling over the EC region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maximum signal-to-noise ratio empirical orthogonal function (MSN-EOF) is used to evaluate the midsummer 2 m temperature over Eastern China using subseasonal forecast data in the ECMWF model. The predictable sources of the most predictable components in the ECMWF model are analyzed, and the improvement of reconstructed predictions with leading predictable components is also investigated. ECMWF has the highest forecast ability among all S2S models but decays significantly after 10 d. The leading predictable mode mainly presents a dipole mode over Eastern China. Both the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and tropical Indian Ocean sea surface temperature anomalies are the main predictable sources of MSN-EOF1. A positive MSN-EOF1 is accompanied by El Niño decay, which can cause the strong and westward West Pacific Subtropical High, accompanied by anomalous southwesterlies over the north of Eastern China. The second predictable mode is the warmer characteristic of the Yangtze-Yellow River Basin, and the sea ice anomalies over the Barents Sea in the previous winter are the main predictable sources. This is accompanied by the wave train propagating from northwestern Russia to northeast Asia. The third predictable mode is mainly the temperature trend item extracted from the ECMWF model. The reconstructed predictions with the leading four MSN-EOF components show higher ability than the model raw predictions, therefore, this method can use the predictable components to filter the model noise and reduce the model error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using hindcast and forecast data from advanced prediction systems of NCEP CFSv2 and JMA/MRI CPSv2 for the winter 1982/1983–2017/2018, this study investigates the predictability of the climatology and dominant modes of winter-mean surface air temperature (SAT) over East Asia. Although the simulated climatological mean SAT has a large bias over most of the mainland China, both models show high forecasting skills for the principal components (PC1 and PC2) of the two major modes (northern and southern temperature modes) of the winter-mean SAT over East Asia 1 month in advance. In comparison, the MRI-CPSv2 performs better than the CFSv2 in simulating the spatial distribution of the northern temperature mode and the associated circulation anomalies aloft, but the CFSv2 has better performance than the MRI-CPSv2 in simulating the spatial distribution of southern temperature mode and its linkage to the Arctic Oscillation and Eurasian pattern. Furthermore, both models well simulate the impacts of the dipole sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the mid-latitude North Pacific and El Niño–Southern Oscillation on the northern and southern temperature modes, respectively. Accordingly, the forecasting skill and signal-to-noise ratio of the PC1 (PC2) are significantly improved in the years with strong SST anomalies over the mid-latitude North Pacific (tropical central-eastern Pacific), particularly for the CFSv2 (MRI-CPSv2) predictions. These results are beneficial for understanding the interannual predictability of the East Asian winter climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An unprecedented cold event occurred in Central and eastern Eurasia during the 2020/21 winter, including five episodes of consecutive cold spells (EP1–5). Through analysis of both observational and simulations, we show that the concurrent Arctic sea-ice loss and extratropical Pacific decadal oscillation (EPDO) warming are potential drivers for the cold event. Their relative contributions to the intraseasonal evolutions of atmospheric circulation and concomitant cold surges are thoroughly investigated. The circulation anomalies highlight the gradual development of the negative Arctic oscillation, accompanied by strengthened Siberian high and deepened Aleutian low. Stratospheric pathways were integrally involved in the dynamical response and the timing of episodes. Our results suggest that the sea-ice, irrespective of seasonality, and autumn EPDO experiments can generally capture the spatial patterns of atmospheric circulation and temperature in observation, albeit weaker in magnitude. Autumn (winter) sea-ice loss led to the EP1–3 (EP2–3) cold spells, and autumn EPDO led to the EP1–3 cold surges; whereas the EP4–5 cold spells induced by autumn SIC and PDO were not statistically robust. The Eurasian cooling response to winter PDO is weak due to the extensive warming over southern China and Eurasian highlatitudes that offsets the midlatitude cooling. The largest coolings were found in SIC and EPDO combined experiments, suggesting their synergic importance in driving such cold events. Our results have implications for the potential predictability of winter extreme events over Eurasia in the context of ongoing sea-ice decline and a recent shift to the positive PDO phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East Asian winter monsoon in 2018 winter is characterized by below-normal surface air temperature (SAT) over central Siberia and eastern China when the winter mean is considered and by three cold waves when the intraseasonal variability, whose timescale is shorter than a season, is concerned. The three cold waves only consist of approximately 2 weeks, but they play a primary role in shaping the SAT pattern in the winter mean field. Nevertheless, the atmospheric circulation anomalies that shape the SAT pattern during the cold waves cannot be reflected well in the winter mean fields. It leads to insufficiencies to explain the winter mean SAT pattern by examining the winter mean circulation alone. In contrast, the SAT pattern formation can be better interpreted when the role of cold waves is considered. These results suggest that the common approach in climate science to examine the seasonal mean variables alone in understanding the seasonal behaviors of climate misses some crucial aspects, at least for this particular winter, and that the intraseasonal variability should be taken into account to supplement these missing aspects. It is recommended that the influences of intraseasonal variability on the climatic behavior of the East Asian winter monsoon be studied comprehensively in the future to portrait a complete picture of this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thorough understanding of regional differences in change patterns of surface air temperature (SAT) at various spatial scales can help people cope well with global warming. In this study, a SAT change pattern recognition method was firstly established based on k-mean++ algorithm. By creating a clustering effect evaluation index (DBWk) to select the optimal cluster number k, the pattern of SAT change in 1960–2016 of China was recognized at national and regional scales. Results showed that China's SAT change patterns were grouped into 3 clusters, namely, Clusters I, II and III, at the national scale. These clusters were further divided into 3, 7, and 4 subclusters at the regional scale, respectively. The SAT change in Cluster I was intense, with a relatively cold period (1960–1987) and a relatively warm period (1988–2016). The SAT of Cluster II decreased slightly in the first phase (1960–1983), minimally increased in the third phase (1999–2016), but rose strongly in the second phase (1984–1998). The linear trend (LT) of SAT increase of Cluster III was high and statistically significant, especially in 1983–2016. The analysis of the SAT change pattern of subclusters showed that the SAT fluctuations of the Altai Mountains and Junggar Basin were the strongest. The Northern Qinghai–Tibet Plateau had the highest warming rate, and the LT of warming was statistically the most significant in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well recognized that climate predictability has three origins: (i) climate memory (inertia of the climate system) that accumulated from the historical conditions, (ii) responses to external forcings, and (iii) dynamical interactions of multiple processes in the climate system. However, how to systematically identify these predictable sources is still an open question. Here, we combine a recently developed Fractional Integral Statistical Model (FISM) with a Variance Decomposition Method (VDM), to systematically estimate the potential sources of predictability. With FISM, one can extract the memory component from the considered variable. For the residual parts, VDM can then be applied to extract the slow varying covariance matrix, which contains signals related to external forcings and dynamical interactions of multiple processes in climate. To demonstrate the feasibility of this new method, we analyzed the seasonal predictability in observational monthly surface air temperatures over China from 1960 to 2017. It is found that the climate memory component contributes a large portion of the seasonal predictability in the temperature records. After removing the memory component, the residual predictability stems mainly from teleconnections, i.e., in summer the residual predictability is closely related to sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the eastern tropical Pacific and the northern Indian Ocean. Our results offer the potential of more skillful seasonal predictions compared with the results obtained using FISM or VDM alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two long continuous regional climate simulations over China have been carried out using the Regional Climate Model version 4 (RegCM4) and Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). The Simulations are forced by NCEP Reanalysis II data with a horizontal grid spacing of 30 km during 1981–2010. It is demonstrated that the RegCM4 and WRF had pronounced temperature and precipitation downscaling ability, producing more regional details and smaller biases than the driving R2. Overall, WRF tended to better capture the temperature and precipitation pattern and magnitude, daily temperature frequency, the monsoon rain belt movement, and seasonal precipitation variations over most wet regions, while larger deficits than RegCM4 were shown over some dry regions. The extreme precipitation indices of the two RCMs were quite different, with strong regional and seasonal dependence. WRF was better at simulating the annual mean temperature and precipitation trends, with higher spatial pattern correlations. The optimal ensemble approach combining the advantages of RegCM4 and WRF showed improved simulation compared to the individual models. The optimal ensemble reduced the annual temperature biases from the two models by 15–30%, and increased the precipitation spatial pattern correlations by 0.08–0.13. Further works are needed to improve the performances of the ensemble approach by using more RCMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyses of in situ and reanalysis output are performed to examine linkages between surface sensible heat fluxes over the central and eastern Tibetan Plateau (CETP) and indices of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) and wintertime near-surface air temperatures over China. The results demonstrate that the sensible heat fluxes over CETP exhibit substantial decadal variability with positive, negative and positive phase during 1980–1987, 1988–2002 and 2003–2014, respectively. This decadal variability exhibits statistically significant associations with sub-components of EAWM and surface temperature anomalies over eastern China. The recovery of decadal change in wintertime sensible heat fluxes from negative to positive phase over CETP over the past decade (since 2003) has been associated with intensification and northward displacement of the East Asian subtropical jet (EASJ), enhanced and westward displacement of East Asian trough and strengthening of the Siberian High. Such processes are associated with the strengthening of EAWM, as well as cold air advection from high latitudes towards the south. Increased wintertime sensible heat fluxes over CETP is associated with markedly changes in the meridional temperature gradient that in term intensifies upper-level zone flow in the EASJ region, which provides a key physical factor linking the anomalies of sensible heat fluxes and EAWM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consensus has been reached that precipitation extremes vary proportionally with global warming. Nevertheless, the underlying cause and magnitude of these factors affecting their relationships remain highly debated. To elucidate the complex relationship between precipitation extremes and temperature in China during the warm seasons (May through September), a 60-year (1958–2017) record of hourly rain gauge measurements, in combination with surface air temperature, RH, precipitable water (PW), and convective available potential energy (CAPE) collected from 120 radiosonde stations were examined. Spatially, the scaling relationship between precipitation extremes and temperature exhibits a large geographic difference across China. In particular, the Clausius–Clapeyron (CC) and sub-CC relationships tend to occur in northwest (ROI-N) and southeast China (ROI-S), whereas the super-CC relationship is found to mainly concentrates in central China (ROI-C). Additionally, the response of precipitation extremes to temperature becomes more sensitive as precipitation intensity increases, shifting from CC to super-CC at a certain point of inflection that varies by geographic regions. This shift occurs at approximately 15 °C in ROI-C and ROI-N, but at around 20 °C in ROI-S. Within the temperature range of the super-CC slope, the PW rises with the increases in temperature, whereas the CAPE decreases with rising temperature, which is contrary to the monotonic scaling of precipitation with temperature. From the perspective of interannual variation, the precipitation extremes correlate positively with temperature. This further confirms the notion that global warming, through jointly affecting PW and CAPE, is able to considerably regulate precipitation extremes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate a record-breaking heat wave in southern China (SC) and explore its association with the South China Sea (SCS) summer monsoon (SCSSM), using station observations and various reanalysis products. This heat wave event started in mid-May 2018 and persisted more than 15 days, when the maximum air temperature anomaly exceeded 6 °C. Meanwhile, the onset of the SCSSM was extremely late in 2018, primarily due to the intrusion of easterly winds over the SCS. We show that the anomalous easterlies over the SCS associated with the delayed SCSSM could block the moisture transport from the tropical oceans to SC, which led to decreased rainfall, increased surface radiation, and elevated probability of heat wave in SC during May 2018. Further analysis reveals that both SC heat waves and SCSSM were significantly affected by the Pacific subtropical high (PSH). The westward extension of the PSH can hinder the establishment of SCSSM via inducing easterly anomalies over the SCS, which reduces SC rainfall and results in a drier surface condition. Moreover, the westward displacement of the PSH may cause anomalously high pressures, descending air motions, and divergent winds over SC, which triggers above-normal air temperatures that are conducive to the occurrences of SC heat waves. This study also underlines the importance of Eurasian planetary wave trains in bridging the upstream climate variability and the changes in PSH during boreal spring, which could be used to improve the intra-seasonal predictions of SC heat wave and SCSSM onset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the 1979–2018 datasets of Climate Prediction Center (CPC) daily maximum air temperature, HadISST, and NCEP-DOE II reanalysis, the impact of Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) and Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) on the interdecadal variability in extreme high temperature (EHT) in North China (NC) is investigated through observational analysis and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Community Atmosphere Model version 5.3 (CAM5.3) numerical simulations. The observational results show an interdecadal shift in NC's EHT in approximately 1996 with a cold period from 1983 to 1996 and a warm period from 1997 to 2014. The summer PDO and AMO are both closely related to NC's EHT, of which AMO dominates. From the cold to warm period, the combination of PDO and AMO changed from a positive PDO (+ PDO) phase and a negative AMO (− AMO) phase to a negative PDO (− PDO) phase and a positive AMO (+ AMO) phase. The shift in the antiphase combination of PDO and AMO plays an important role in the interdecadal transition of NC's EHT in 1996. PDO could impact NC's EHT through the Pacific-East Asia teleconnection pattern, and AMO could influence the NC's EHT through an atmospheric wave train in the midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. During the warm period (− PDO and + AMO), warmer sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) in the northern North Pacific (NP) and North Atlantic (NA) could cause anticyclonic circulation anomalies over these two basins. The anticyclonic circulations anomalies over the NP could enhance the anticyclone over NC through the Pacific-East Asian (PEA) teleconnection pattern. It could also cause an easterly wind from the NP to NC which would weaken the upper westerly over NC. The anticyclonic anomalies over the NA, which were parts of the wave train, could affect other sectors of the wave train, resulting in anticyclonic anomalies over NC. The anticyclonic anomalies over NC could strengthen the continental high and weaken the upper zonal westerly, resulting in favorable EHT conditions. During the cold period (+ PDO and − AMO), because of the same atmospheric response mechanism, a westerly wind from NC to NP and a wave train with reversed anomaly centers could be found, causing a cyclonic anomaly over NC that is not conducive to the EHT. A series of numerical simulations using CAM5.3 confirm the above observational results and show that the combination of + PDO and − AMO changing to − PDO and + AMO has a great impact on the interdecadal shift in EHT in NC in 1996. The simulations also show that both + AMO and − PDO can lead the EHT in NC individually, and the impact of AMO on the EHT in NC is dominant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulation of surface air temperature over China from a set of regional climate model (RCM) climate change experiments are analyzed with the focus on bias and change signal of the RCM and driving general circulation models (GCMs). The set consists of 4 simulations by the RCM of RegCM4 driven by 4 different GCMs for the period of 1979–2099 under the mid-range RCP4.5 (representative concentration pathway) scenario. Results show that for present day conditions, the RCM provides with more spatial details of the distribution and in general reduces the biases of GCM, in particular in DJF (December–January–February) and over areas with complex topography. Bias patterns show some correlation between the RCM and driving GCM in DJF but not in JJA (June–July–August). In JJA, the biases in RCM simulations show similar pattern and low sensitivity to the driving GCM, which can be attributed to the large effect of internal model physics in the season. For change signals, dominant forcings from the driving GCM are evident in the RCM simulations as shown by the magnitude, large scale spatial distribution, as well as interannual variation of the changes. The added value of RCM projection is characterized by the finer spatial detail in sub-regional (river basins) and local scale. In DJF, profound warming over the Tibetan Plateau is simulated by RCM but not GCMs. In general no clear relationships are found between the model bias and change signal, either for the driving GCMs or nested RCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The winter fog frequency over eastern China displays remarkable interannual variability, which has a linear relationship with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Eastern China usually experiences more (less) frequent fog during El Niño (La Niña) winters. During El Niño winters, an anomalous anticyclone tends to appear over the western North Pacific (WNP), which can weaken the climatological winter northerly winds and enhance water vapor supply from oceans, conducive to the formation of foggy weather. Roughly opposite anomalies of fog frequency are displayed during La Niña winters. However, this linear relationship is mainly contributed by the La Niña and partial El Niño events, since the El Niño events exhibit diversity in impacts on the winter fog frequency due to their different types. Increased winter fog frequency can be significantly detected during eastern-Pacific (EP) El Niño, while this signal is not observed during central-Pacific (CP) El Niño. It is found that the winter fog frequency during the CP El Niño seems to be dependent on its zonal locations, associated with different WNP atmospheric circulation and local difference between air temperature and dew point temperature (T − Td) anomalies. The further eastward CP El Niño largely coincides with more frequent fog weather similar to the EP El Niño, while the further westward CP El Niño is usually accompanied with less frequent fog weather. This relationship has important implications for seasonal prediction of winter fog frequency and places a high requirement on consideration of zonal location of the CP El Niño. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black carbon (BC) aerosol is a significant, short-lived climate forcing agent. To further understand the effects of BCs on the regional climate, the warming effects of BCs from residential, industrial, power and transportation emissions are investigated in Asian regions during summer using the state-of-the-art regional climate model RegCM4. BC emissions from these four sectors have very different rates and variations. Residential and industrial BCs account for approximately 85% of total BC emissions, while power BCs account for only approximately 0.19% in Asian regions during summer. An investigation suggests that both the BC aerosol optical depth (AOD) and direct radiative forcing (DRF) are highly dependent on emissions, while the climate effects show substantial nonlinearity to emissions. The total BCs AOD and clear-sky top of the atmosphere DRF averaged over East Asia (100–130°E, 20–50°N) are 0.02 and + 1.34 W/m2, respectively, during summer. Each sector's BC emissions may result in a warming effect over the region, leading to an enhanced summer monsoon circulation and a subsequent local decrease (e.g., northeast China) or increase (e.g., south China) in rainfall in China and its surrounding regions. The near surface air temperature increased by 0.2 K, and the precipitation decreased by approximately 0.01 mm/day in east China due to the total BC emissions. The regional responses to the BC warming effects are highly nonlinear to the emissions, which may be linked to the influences of the perturbed atmospheric circulations and climate feedback. The nonuniformity of the spatial distribution of BC emissions may also have significant influences on climate responses, especially in south and east China. The results of this study could aid us in better understanding BC effects under different emission conditions and provide a scientific reference for developing a better BC reduction strategy over Asian regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes in three aspects of frequency, intensity and duration of the compound, daytime and nighttime heat waves (HWs) over China during extended summer (May–September) in a future period of the mid-21st century (FP; 2045–2055) under RCP4.5 scenario relative to present day (PD; 1994–2011) are investigated by two models, MetUM-GOML1 and MetUM-GOML2, which comprise the atmospheric components of two state-of-the-art climate models coupled to a multi-level mixed-layer ocean model. The results show that in the mid-21st century all three types of HWs in China will occur more frequently with strengthened intensity and elongated duration relative to the PD. The compound HWs will change most dramatically, with the frequency in the FP being 4–5 times that in the PD, and the intensity and duration doubling those in the PD. The changes in daytime and nighttime HWs are also remarkable, with the changes of nighttime HWs larger than those of daytime HWs. The future changes of the three types of HWs in China in two models are similar in terms of spatial patterns and area-averaged quantities, indicating these projected changes of HWs over the China under RCP4.5 scenario are robust. Further analyses suggest that projected future changes in HWs over China are determined mainly by the increase in seasonal mean surface air temperatures with change in temperature variability playing a minor role. The seasonal mean temperature increase is due to the increase in surface downward longwave radiation and surface shortwave radiation. The increase in downward longwave radiation results from the enhanced greenhouse effect and increased water vapour in the atmosphere. The increase in surface shortwave radiation is the result of the decreased aerosol emissions, via direct aerosol–radiation interaction and indirect aerosol–cloud interaction over southeastern and northeastern China, and the reduced cloud cover related to a decrease in relative humidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1990s, the global warming has ground to a halt, which has sparked a rising interest among the climate scientists. The hiatus is not only observed in the globally averaged surface air temperature (SAT), but also in the China winter temperature trend, which turns from warming during 1979–1997 to cooling during 1998–2013. However, the reasons and the relevant mechanisms of the warming hiatus are far from being understood. Arctic sea ice (ASI), one of the tipping points of the Earth system change, has contributed to the dramatic climate change. It is found that the ASI over the Barents–Kara Seas in the warming hiatus period (1998–2013) has declined about three times faster than that in the previous continuing warming period (1979–1997). The observational analysis and the wave ray trajectories suggest that, for the hiatus period, the ASI over the Barents-Kara Seas explains 61.4% of the decreasing SAT trend and 14.4% of the interannual SAT variation in China. The possible dynamical process is as follows: the anomalous ASI loss associated with the significant warming in Barents-Kara Seas can excite a downstream teleconnection wave train pattern over the Eurasia continent. The significant easterly winds in the subpolar region slacken the polar-front jet, while the anomalous westerly winds over the Tibetan Plateau reinforce the East Asian subtropical jet. As a result, the concurrent out-of-phase variations in the intensity of the jets lead to the cold flow moving southward from the Arctic and converging in China. The northwest–southeast tilted dipole pattern of the height centers over Eurasia, accompanied with the weakened polar-front jet, usually favors the persistence of Ural blocking (UB). Furthermore, in the lower level, the anomalous high pressure belt over the northern Eurasian continent can help cold northeasterly winds blow from the Russian Far East to China and bring about the cold winters. Thus, the accelerated melting of ASI can exert a profound influence on China warming hiatus in recent two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The northern and the southern modes are two distinct principle modes that dominate the winter mean surface air temperature (Ts) variations over East Asia (EA). The cold southern mode is represented by a significant cooling south of 45°N and is linked to La Niña events. An objective criterion, which could distinguish the spatial distributions and the maximum center of sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA), is used to classify the La Niña events into two categories: mega-La Niña and equatorial La Niña. Their impacts are inspected onto the Ts southern mode. The mega-La Niña, featured by a significant K-shape warming in the western Pacific with the maximum SSTA cooling centered in the tropical central Pacific. As a response, an anomalous barotropic high is generated over North Pacific (NP) implying a weak zonal gradient between ocean and the EA continent, which induces a neutral Ts southern mode. The equatorial La Niña characterizes a significant cooling in the tropical eastern Pacific with convective descending motions shifting eastward to the east of the dateline. The resultant low-level circulation anomalies show an anomalous subtropical NP low and a gigantic abnormal EA continent high. The strong zonal gradient results in significant northerly anomalies over EA from 55°N to southeastern China. Over the mid-upper troposphere, the anomalous subtropical NP low extends westward to the Korean Peninsula, leading to a strengthened and southward shifted EA trough. Such abnormal circulation patterns favor the intrusion of cold air to southern EA and correspond to a strong Ts southern mode. The numerical results well validate the above processes and physical mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The near-surface air temperature over China is simulated from 1950 to 2099 using the PRECIS model from the Met Office Hadley Centre at a 25-km resolution. In order to reflect the different parametric and structural uncertainties in future temperature projections, the PRECIS model is driven by five lateral boundary conditions, which include a four-member HadCM3-based perturbed-physics ensemble (i.e., HadCM3Q0, Q1, Q7 and Q13) and an ECHAM5 model. For the present climate, PRECIS reasonably reproduces the spatial patterns of near-surface air temperatures over most regions in China, except for some underestimation in the west. The annual cycles of mean temperature are well captured but its magnitude is slightly underestimated throughout the year. Future temperature projections are further analyzed for three successive 30-year periods throughout the twenty-first century. Despite more uncertainties with time, the ensemble results demonstrate that the temperature over China is likely to continue to increase throughout the twenty-first century, with different spatial-time variation. There is an apparent increasing pattern along with the latitude for seasonal temperature. Through comparison with the driving GCMs, PRECIS ensemble shows smaller biases in most regions of China, except for in the west plateau. The cause is that RCMs could inherit some errors from the driving GCMs in addition to their own errors. These errors could be magnified unintentionally in downscaling over high elevations and have been propagated into future climate projections. However, there is no apparent relationship between projected changes and model biases (i.e., larger bias does not necessarily lead to bigger changes in temperature). These results could be directly used to analyze the impacts caused by climate warming on agriculture, energy and other related sectors in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reforecast of 11 models in the sub-seasonal to seasonal (S2S) prediction project has been analyzed to investigate the effects of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) on the prediction skill of winter 2-m air temperature (T2M) over China. Most of the S2S models have useful prediction skills (correlation skill ≥ 0.5) before pentads 3 and 4. ECMWF model can possess a good prediction skill for almost four pentads and perform the best among the 11 models. ECCC and ECMWF models have more reliable ensemble prediction and better ensemble strategies than the other models. All the models tend to have lower T2M prediction skill over the Tibetan Plateau than that over the other regions of China. Moreover, initial state and model resolution have important influences on S2S prediction skill. In most of the models at pentads 3 and 4, T2M prediction skill of forecast with MJO at initial time is significantly higher than that without over parts of China. However, the spatial distributions of the prediction skill differences due to MJO are not consistent among the 11 models. This indicates that there is an uncertainty of the effects of MJO on T2M prediction over China at pentads 3 and 4. Planetary-scale teleconnection pattern excited by MJO over the Northern Hemisphere is the possible reason for the effect of MJO on T2M prediction skill. Because most of the models can maintain this teleconnection pattern for 3–4 forecast pentads, MJO can affect the atmospheric circulation over China during this period, and improve the T2M prediction skill in the models. This finding suggests that the prediction of winter T2M over China initialized with MJO can be more skillful at pentads 3 and 4 than that without MJO in the initial conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study analyzes the leading interannual variability modes of Southeast Asian surface air temperature (SAT) during boreal winter. The first Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF1) mode displays same-sign SAT anomalies over Southeast Asia, with a center around the north Indo-China Peninsula and south China. The second EOF (EOF2) shows a dipole SAT anomaly pattern between the Indo-China Peninsula and south China. Surface heat flux change may not be able to explain SAT variation related to the EOF1, but explain partly the SAT change associated with the EOF2. Atmospheric anomalies play a crucial role in the SAT variations via wind-induced temperature advection. Specifically, for the EOF1, marked northerly anomalies appear over the Southeast Asia, which bring colder air from higher latitude and contribute to negative SAT anomalies. Change in the intensity of Arctic Oscillation, Siberian High and La Niña like sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the tropical central-eastern Pacific play a key role in forming the northerly anomalies related to the EOF1. For the EOF2, at the lower troposphere, a pair of anomalous cyclones appears over the tropical north and south Indian Ocean, together with southwesterly wind anomalies extending from the Indian Ocean to the Indo-China Peninsula, which favor positive SAT anomalies there. Formation of the twin cyclones is likely to be a Gill type Rossby wave response of the tropical Indian Ocean SST warming. At the upper troposphere, two wave trains, one originated from the Arctic region and another from the Mediterranean Sea, contribute collectively to the atmospheric circulation anomalies over Southeast Asia related to the EOF2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been well recognized that, for most climatic records, their current states are influenced by both past conditions and current dynamical excitations. However, how to properly use this idea to improve the climate predictive skills, is still an open question. In this study, we evaluated the decadal hindcast experiments of 11 models (participating in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, CMIP5) in simulating the effects of past conditions (memory part, M(t)) and the current dynamical excitations (non-memory part, ε (t) ). Poor skills in simulating the memory part of surface air temperatures (SAT) are found in all the considered models. Over most regions of China, the CMIP5 models significantly overestimated the long-term memory (LTM) of SAT. While in the southwest, the LTM was significantly underestimated. After removing the biased memory part from the simulations using fractional integral statistical model (FISM), the remaining non-memory part, however, was found reasonably simulated in the multi-model means. On annual scale, there were high correlations between the simulated and the observed ε (t) over most regions of the country, and for most cases they had the same sign. These findings indicated that the current errors of dynamical models may be partly due to the unrealistic simulations of the impacts from the past. To improve predictive skills, a new strategy was thus suggested. As FISM is capable of extracting M(t) quantitatively, by combining FISM with dynamical models (which may produce reasonable estimations of ε (t) ), improved climate predictions with the effects of past conditions properly considered may become possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, this paper analyzes the spatiotemporal features of heat waves in 20-year regional climate simulations over East Asia, and investigates the capability of WRF to reproduce observational heat waves in China. Within the framework of the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), the WRF model is driven by the ERA-Interim (ERAIN) reanalysis, and five continuous simulations are conducted from 1989 to 2008. Of these, four runs apply the interior spectral nudging (SN) technique with different wavenumbers, nudging variables and nudging coefficients. Model validations show that WRF can reasonably reproduce the spatiotemporal features of heat waves in China. Compared with the experiment without SN, the application of SN is effectie on improving the skill of the model in simulating both the spatial distributions and temporal variations of heat waves of different intensities. The WRF model shows advantages in reproducing the synoptic circulations with SN and therefore yields better representations for heat wave events. Besides, the SN method is able to preserve the variability of large-scale circulations quite well, which in turn adjusts the extreme temperature variability towards the observation. Among the four SN experiments, those with stronger nudging coefficients perform better in modulating both the spatial and temporal features of heat waves. In contrast, smaller nudging coefficients weaken the effects of SN on improving WRF's performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the considerable influences of urbanization on near-surface air temperature (Ta) and surface skin temperature (Ts) at local and regional scales, we investigated the biogeophysical effects of urbanization on Taand Ts in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region of China, a typical rapidly urbanizing area, using the weather research and forecasting model (WRF). Two experiments were conducted using satellite-derived realistic areal fraction land cover data in 2010 and 1990 as well as localized parameters (e.g. albedo and leaf area index). Without considering anthropogenic heat, experimental differences indicated a regional biogeophysical warming of 0.15 °C (0.16 °C) in summer Ta (Ts), but a negligible warming in winter Ta (Ts). Sensitivity analyses also showed a stronger magnitude of local warming in summer than in winter. Along with an increase of 10% in the urban fraction, local Ta (Ts) increases of 0.185 °C (0.335 °C), 0.212 °C (0.464 °C), and 0.140 °C (0.220 °C) were found at annual, summer, and winter scales, respectively, according to a space-for-time substitution method. The sensitivity analyses will be beneficial to get a rough biogeophysical warming estimation of future urbanization projections. Furthermore, a decomposed temperature metric (DTM) method was applied for the attribution analyses of the change in Ts induced by urbanization. Our results showed that the decrease in evapotranspiration-induced latent heat played a dominate role in biogeophysical warming due to urbanization in BTH, indicating that increasing green space could alleviate warming effects, especially in summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme heat (EH) over North China (NC) is affected by both large scale circulations and local topography, and could be categorized into foehn favorable and no-foehn types. In this study, the performance of a regional coupled model in simulating EH over NC was examined. The effects of regional air-sea coupling were also investigated by comparing the results with the corresponding atmosphere-alone regional model. On foehn favorable (no-foehn) EH days, a barotropic cyclonic (anticyclonic) anomaly is located to the northeast (northwest) of NC, while anomalous northwesterlies (southeasterlies) prevail over NC in the lower troposphere. In the uncoupled simulation, barotropic anticyclonic bias occurs over China on both foehn favorable and no-foehn EH days, and the northwesterlies in the lower troposphere on foehn favorable EH days are not obvious. These biases are significantly reduced in the regional coupled simulation, especially on foehn favorable EH days with wind anomalies skill scores improving from 0.38 to 0.47, 0.47 to 0.61 and 0.38 to 0.56 for horizontal winds at 250, 500 and 850 hPa, respectively. Compared with the uncoupled simulation, the reproduction of the longitudinal position of Northwest Pacific subtropical high (NPSH) and the spatial pattern of the low-level monsoon flow over East Asia are improved in the coupled simulation. Therefore, the anticyclonic bias over China is obviously reduced, and the proportion of EH days characterized by anticyclonic anomaly is more appropriate. The improvements in the regional coupled model indicate that it is a promising choice for the future projection of EH over NC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current dynamical climate models have limited skills in predicting winter temperature in China. The present study uses physics-based empirical models (PEMs) to explore the sources and limits of the seasonal predictability in the total number of extremely cold days (NECD) over China. A combined cluster-rotated EOF analysis reveals two sub-regions of homogeneous variability among hundreds of stations, namely the Northeast China (NE) and Main China (MC). This reduces the large-number of predictands to only two indices, the NCED-NE and NCED-MC, which facilitates detection of the common sources of predictability for all stations. The circulation anomalies associated with the NECD-NE exhibit a zonally symmetric Arctic Oscillation-like pattern, whereas those associated with the NECD-MC feature a North-South dipolar pattern over Asia. The predictability of the NECD originates from SST and snow cover anomalies in the preceding September and October. However, the two regions have different SST predictors: The NE predictor is in the western Eurasian Arctic while the MC predictor is over the tropical-North Pacific. The October snow cover predictors also differ: The NE predictor primarily resides in the central Eurasia while the MC predictor is over the western and eastern Eurasia. The PEM prediction results suggest that about 60% (55%) of the total variance of winter NECD over the NE (Main) China are likely predictable 1 month in advance. The NECD at each station can also be predicted by using the four predictors that were detected for the two indices. The cross-validated temporal correlation skills exceed 0.70 at most stations. The physical mechanisms by which the autumn Arctic sea ice, snow cover, and tropical-North Pacific SST anomalies affect winter NECD over the NE and Main China are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in minimum winter temperature (MWT) and their potential effects on plant growth and development have been gaining increased scientific attention. To better understand these changes across long temporal scales, the present study used dendroclimatological techniques to assess variations in MWT in Southwestern China. Using data from Rhododendron species distributed in areas above the tree-line, a regional composite chronology was generated for a 341-year period. Based on the significant negative correlation between MWT values and ring-width, the most reliable parts of this chronological data were then used to reconstruct MWT values for the past 211 years. This reconstructed MWT series showed decadal to multi-decadal fluctuations. Three distinct cold periods prevailed during 1823-1858, 1882-1891 and 1922-1965, while four warm intervals occurred in 1800-1822, 1858-1881, 1892-1921 and 1966-2011. Our reconstructed MWT reveals a warming trend over the most recent eight decades, which is in agreement with instrumental observations. However, the MWT values and rate of warming over the past seven decades did not exceed those found in the reconstructed temperature data for the past 211 years. Spatial correlations reveal that the MWT in Southwest China is strongly associated with regional temperatures in the Eastern and Central Himalaya, Northern China, and the Indian Peninsula. Larger scale climate oscillations of the Western Pacific and Northern Indian Ocean as well as the North Atlantic Oscillation probably influenced the region's temperature in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the intensity, area, and duration of droughts in China are analyzed using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The SPI was calculated on monthly data for 530 meteorological stations in China for the period 1960-2013. The time series were analyzed for ten major hydrological regions of China, respectively. The relationships between the intensity and the area of droughts for a specific duration were analyzed by the intensity-area-duration method. The results show that areas with a significant trend in dryness can be found in a band reaching from the southwest to the northeast of China, while areas with significant trends in wetness are especially detected in the northern river basins in recent decades. In addition, for recent years (2000-2013), most of the ten major hydrological regions show opposite trends in the SPI when compared to the whole study period (1960-2013) except for the central and southwestern parts of China. This dryness/wetness trends are related to the intensity and duration of drought events, which have been stronger and lasted longer in the detected dryness band except for some northern river basins. A regional shift of drought centers is found from the northwest to the southeast within Central China. Moreover, a decreasing trend in drought area is observed, which might be related to the regional changes in precipitation pattern associated with the atmosphere-ocean interaction. Changes in the SST of the Tropical Pacific and the Tropical Indian Ocean may have resulted in frequent severe drought events of small areal extent in the central and southwestern parts of China. For the study period, the most severe droughts that covered large areas mainly occurred in the north and west of China during the mid-to-late twentieth century. However, in the early twenty-first century, the most severe droughts were located in the southwest of China covering areas less than 0.7 million km. Conclusively, drought areas show a decreasing tendency, while more intense droughts of longer duration have been experienced, especially in the south of China, in the last decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial and temporal pattern of sub-daily temperature change in mainland China was analysed for the period from 1973 to 2011 using a 3-hourly dataset based on 408 stations. The increase in surface air temperature was more significant by night between 1973 and 1992, with the fastest upward trend around local midnight being about 0.27 °C/decade, while it was more significant by day between 1992 and 2011, with the fastest upward trend being about 0.46 °C/decade in mid-late morning. The season with rapid temperature increase also shifted from winter in 1973-1992 (the largest increase happened near midnight in December, 0.75 °C/decade) to spring in 1992-2011 (the largest increase happened at in the early afternoon in March, 0.82 °C/decade). The change in the spatial distributions of the sub-daily temperature trends shows that Northeast China warmed more significantly in 1973-1992 than elsewhere, but it cooled in 1992-2011, when Southwest China was the new focus of temperature increase whereas it had previously been cooling. A preliminary analysis of the possible causes implies that changes in solar radiation, cloud cover, aerosols and the observational environments near the stations might have contributed to these observed temperature changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summer heat waves with persistent extreme high temperatures have been occurring with increasing frequency in recent decades. These extreme events have disastrous consequences for human health, economies, and ecosystems. In this study, we examine three summers with intense and protracted heat waves: the summers of 2003, 2006, and 2013, with high temperatures located mainly in southeastern, southwestern, and eastern China, respectively. The synoptic-scale characteristics of these heat waves and associated atmospheric circulation anomalies are investigated. In the early heat wave episode of 2003, a heat center was located in the southeast coastal provinces during the first 20 days of July. The maximum southward displacement of the East Asian jet stream (EAJS) induced anticyclonic anomalies to the south, associated with southwestward intensification of the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH), and extreme high temperatures were found only to the south of the Yangtze River. In the later episode, a poleward displacement of the EAJS and an enhanced WNPSH over the midlatitudes of eastern China resulted in a 'heat dome' over the region, and the heat wave extended northward to cover a larger area of eastern China. The coupling between the westward-enhanced WNPSH and poleward-displaced EAJS was found in the East China heat wave of 2013 as well. But the area of high temperatures reached far to the north in August 2013, with below-normal temperatures located in a small region of South China. In the 2006 southwestern drought and heat wave, extreme poleward displacement of the EAJS, associated with extraordinary westward extension of the WNSPH, resulted in further blocking of the moisture supply from the southwest monsoon. Large-scale moisture deficiencies, dry conditions, and downslope winds were common features of all investigated heat wave episodes. But in 2006, low-level heat lows associated with a well-mixed layer due to intensive daytime heating and atmospheric turbulence were emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study reveals that rainfall anomalies associated with the 25-90-day (quasi-biweekly) tropical convective activity propagates northward (northwestward) into northern China (the Yangtze River). Enhanced rainfall over southern China results directly from enhanced convection propagating northward from the South China Sea (SCS)-western north Pacific (WNP), strengthened northward water vapor transport and intensified upper-level divergence. The anomalous anticyclone over SCS-WNP, which is induced by local lower sea surface temperature, provides a favorable condition for transporting more moisture to southern China. Stronger subtropical westerly jet and South Asia high strengthen upper-level divergence. The northward propagating 25-90-day oscillation over eastern China reaches farther north than the quasi-biweekly oscillation (QBWO). The intensity of QBWO in summer rainfall has significantly strengthened over southern China after 1993 but not for the 25-90-day oscillation. This is mainly contributed by an interdecadal increase in rainfall over southern China and the Yangtze River Basin in the wet phases of QBWO. The interdecadal enhancement of rainfall associated with the QBWO is attributed to three factors. One is lower tropospheric convergence caused by anomalous anticyclone over the WNP and anomalous cyclone over Korean Peninsula and Japan. The second is upper tropospheric divergence resulting from strengthening of subtropical westerly jet and the South Asia high. The last is enhanced ascent over South China through meridional vertical circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inter-annual variation in the ratio of O to O of precipitation (δO) in the monsoon regions of China (MRC, area approximately east of 100°E) has not yet been fully analyzed. Based on an analysis of the relationships between the time series of amount-weighted mean annual δO in precipitation (δO) and meteorological variables such as temperature, precipitation as well as atmospheric/oceanic circulation indices, it is recognized that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle appears to be the dominant control on the inter-annual variation in δO in the MRC. Further analysis shows that the trade wind plays a role in governing δO through affecting the intensity of the different summer monsoon circulations which are closely linked to the weakening (weaker than normal) and strengthening (stronger than normal) of the trade wind and gives the δO different values at or over inter-annual timescales. The southwest monsoon (SWM) drives long-distance transport of water vapor from Indian Ocean to the MRC, and along this pathway increasing rainout leads to more negative δO via Rayleigh distillation processes. In contrast, the southeast monsoon (SEM), which is consistent with the changes in the strength of the West Pacific subtropical high, drives short-distance water vapor transport from the West Pacific Ocean to the MRC and leads to less negative δO. Therefore, the δO value directly reflects the differences in influence between the SWM, which is strong when the SE trade wind is strong, and the SEM, which is strong when the SE trade wind is weak. In addition, the South China Sea Monsoon also transports local water vapor as well as plays a role in achieving the synchronization between the δO and ENSO. The author thus terms the δO rhythm in the MRC the 'circulation effect'. In turn, the δO variation in the MRC has the potential to provide information on atmospheric circulation and the signal of δO recorded in natural archives can then be used to deduce a long-term behavior of the tropical climate system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National Centers for Environmental Prediction recently upgraded its operational seasonal forecast system to the fully coupled climate modeling system referred to as CFSv2. CFSv2 has been used to make seasonal climate forecast retrospectively between 1982 and 2009 before it became operational. In this study, we evaluate the model's ability to predict the summer temperature and precipitation over China using the 120 9-month reforecast runs initialized between January 1 and May 26 during each year of the reforecast period. These 120 reforecast runs are evaluated as an ensemble forecast using both deterministic and probabilistic metrics. The overall forecast skill for summer temperature is high while that for summer precipitation is much lower. The ensemble mean reforecasts have reduced spatial variability of the climatology. For temperature, the reforecast bias is lead time-dependent, i.e., reforecast JJA temperature become warmer when lead time is shorter. The lead time dependent bias suggests that the initial condition of temperature is somehow biased towards a warmer condition. CFSv2 is able to predict the summer temperature anomaly in China, although there is an obvious upward trend in both the observation and the reforecast. Forecasts of summer precipitation with dynamical models like CFSv2 at the seasonal time scale and a catchment scale still remain challenge, so it is necessary to improve the model physics and parameterizations for better prediction of Asian monsoon rainfall. The probabilistic skills of temperature and precipitation are quite limited. Only the spatially averaged quantities such as averaged summer temperature over the Northeast China of CFSv2 show higher forecast skill, of which is able to discriminate between event and non-event for three categorical forecasts. The potential forecast skill shows that the above and below normal events can be better forecasted than normal events. Although the shorter the forecast lead time is, the higher deterministic prediction skill appears, the probabilistic prediction skill does not increase with decreased lead time. The ensemble size does not play a significant role in affecting the overall probabilistic forecast skill although adding more members improves the probabilistic forecast skill slightly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]