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By using NCEP/NCAR daily reanalysis data and daily precipitation data of 740 stations in China, relationships between the position variation of the West Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) and the diabatic heating during persistent and intense rains in the Yangtze-Huaihe Rivers basin are studied. The results show that the position variation of WPSH is closely associated with the diabatic heating. There are strong apparent heating sources and moisture sinks in both the basin (to the north of WPSH) and the north of Bay of Bengal (to the west of WPSH) during persistent and intense rain events. In the basin, Q1z begins to increase 3 days ahead of intense rainfall, maximizes 2 days later and then reduces gradually, but it changes little after precipitation ends, thus preventing the WPSH from moving northward. In the north of Bay of Bengal, 2 days ahead of strong rainfall over the basin, Q1z starts to increase and peaks 1 day after the rain occurs, leading to the westward extension of WPSH. Afterwards, Q1z begins declining and the WPSH makes its eastward retreat accordingly. Based on the complete vertical vorticity equation, in mid-troposphere, the vertical variation of heating in the basin is favorable to the increase of cyclonic vorticity north of WPSH, which counteracts the northward movement of WPSH and favors the persistence of rainbands over the basin. The vertical variation of heating in the north of Bay of Bengal is in favor of the increase of anti-cyclonic vorticity to the west of WPSH, which induces the westward extension of WPSH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of the South-Asian high (SAH) in April and May over the Indochina Peninsula (IP) is investigated based on the ERA-40 reanalysis data. The result shows that the SAH is generated and strengthened over the IP locally, rather than moving westward to the IP from the Western Pacific. After the SAH establishment the tropical upper tropospheric trough (TUTT) forms above the ocean to the east of the Philippines. We have found that the principal triggering factor of both the SAH construction and the TUTT formation is the variation in the Southern Asian atmospheric diabatic heating regime. In late April, both the climbing effect of Shan Plateau and the local surface sensible heating contribute to local rainfall over the IP. Then the local updraft and upper-air divergence are strengthened, being responsible for the SAH formed in the southern part of the IP. As convection moves northward along the Australian-Asian "maritime continent" and the Bay of Bengal (BoB) summer monsoon begins, the convection is intensified in May on the eastern BoB. The strong convection results in the SAH enhancing and expanding westward, accompanied by reinforced meridional flow to the east of SAH, where responses of the circulation to diabatic heating arrive at a quasi-steady state. Meanwhile, because of the positive geopotential vorticity advection resulting from upper equatorward flow, the local positive relative vorticity increases over the ocean to the east of the Philippines, making the tropical upper tropospheric trough (TUTT) form around 150°E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]