Role of the subtropical westerly jet waveguide in a southern China heavy rainstorm in December 2013

• DOI: 10.1007/s00376-014-4099-y
• Publication Date: 2015-03-04T19:34:30Z
• Authors: Chun Li; Jilin Sun
• Keywords: 13. Climate action; 0207 environmental engineering; 14. Life underwater; 02 engineering and technology; 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

An extreme rainstorm hit southern China during 13–17 December 2013, with a record-breaking daily rainfall rate, large spatial extent, and unusually long persistence. We examined what induced this heavy rainfall process, based on observed rainfall data and NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data through composite and diagnostic methods. The results showed that a Rossby waveguide within the subtropical westerly jet caused the event. The Rossby wave originated from strong cold air intrusion into the subtropical westerly jet over the eastern Mediterranean. With the enhancement and northward shift of the Middle East westerly jet, the Rossby wave propagated slowly eastward and deepened the India-Burma trough, which transported a large amount of moisture from the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea to southern China. Strong divergence in the upper troposphere, caused by the enhancement of the East Asian westerly jet, also favored the heavy rainfall process over Southeast China. In addition, the Rossby wave was associated with a negative-to-positive phase shift and enhancement of the North Atlantic Oscillation, but convergence in the eastern Mediterranean played the key role in the eastward propagation of the Rossby wave within the subtropical westerly jet.