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A study on the heavy-rain-producing mesoscale convective system associated with diurnal variation of radiation and topography in the eastern slope of the western Sichuan plateau

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Abstract

On 24–25 July 2010, a Plateau Vortex system forming to the north of Tibetan Plateau dramatically changed its moving direction to westward after several days of eastward movement. Observational analysis showed that, during its westward movement, a low-level southeasterly or easterly wind developed over the Sichuan basin. The large-scale forcing became favorable for the convection development. The low-level warm advection was more favorable for convection development than the differential vorticity advection. The daytime scattered convections were organized into a mesoscale convective system (MCS) after sunset, which produced extremely heavy rainfall in the eastern slope of the Western Sichuan Plateau. The observational evidences and numerical simulations have indicated that the topographically induced dynamical lifting over the lower topography and the convergence caused by the topographical blocking provided strong support for the convection initiation. The cold outflows caused by surface evaporative cooling of rain steered the MCS to move away from its original place, while the convergence between the cold outflows and the environmental southeasterly flow apparently helped the maintenance of the MCS. The intensification of the low-level flow, which was associated with the diurnal variation of radiative forcing, contributed to the organization and intensification of the MCS. The results of sensitivity experiments further confirmed the impact of topography in the convection initiation, and the influences of cold outflows caused by surface evaporative cooling of rain on the movement and maintenance of the MCS. The effects of the diurnal variation of radiative forcing on the organization of the MCS are also well represented in the model results.

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Acknowledgments

This study is sponsored by the project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China under grant No. GYHY201206003, the science foundation of State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather under grant No. 2014LASW-A05, and by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under grant Nos. 41075038, 41405106, and 40975025. The author appreciates the Institute of Plateau Meteorology of CMA for providing the 6-hourly intensive observed radio-sounding data at Hongyuan, Yaan and Wenjiang.

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  1. Hubei Key Laboratory for Heavy Rain Monitoring and Warning Research, Institute of Heavy Rain, CMA, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Yuchun Zhao

  2. State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Yuchun Zhao

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  1. Yuchun Zhao
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Correspondence to Yuchun Zhao.

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Responsible Editor: M. Kaplan.

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Zhao, Y. A study on the heavy-rain-producing mesoscale convective system associated with diurnal variation of radiation and topography in the eastern slope of the western Sichuan plateau. Meteorol Atmos Phys 127, 123–146 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-014-0356-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-014-0356-y

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