Abstract
An unprecedented cold wave intruded into East Asia in early January 2021 and led to record-breaking or historical extreme low temperatures over vast regions. This study shows that a major stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) event at the beginning of January 2021 exerted an important influence on this cold wave. The major SSW event occurred on 2 January 2021 and subsequently led to the displacement of the stratospheric polar vortex to the East Asian side. Moreover, the SSW event induced the stratospheric warming signal to propagate downward to the mid-to-lower troposphere, which not only enhanced the blocking in the Urals–Siberia region and the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation, but also shifted the tropospheric polar vortex off the pole. The displaced tropospheric polar vortex, Ural blocking, and another downstream blocking ridge over western North America formed a distinct inverted omega-shaped circulation pattern (IOCP) in the East Asia–North Pacific sector. This IOCP was the most direct and impactful atmospheric pattern causing the cold wave in East Asia. The IOCP triggered a meridional cell with an upward branch in East Asia and a downward branch in Siberia. The meridional cell intensified the Siberian high and low-level northerly winds, which also favored the invasion of the cold wave into East Asia. Hence, the SSW event and tropospheric circulations such as the IOCP, negative phase of Arctic Oscillation, Ural blocking, enhanced Siberian high, and eastward propagation of Rossby wave eventually induced the outbreak of an unprecedented cold wave in East Asia in early January 2021.
摘 要
2021年1月初一次超强寒潮过程侵袭东亚地区, 导致我国大范围地区出现极端低温或破纪录低温. 研究表明, 2021年1月初发生的一次强平流层爆发性增温事件对此次超强寒潮的爆发产生了重要影响. 这次平流层爆发性增温事件发生在2021年1月2日, 之后平流层增暖信号向下传播至对流层, 不仅增强了乌拉尔-西伯利亚地区的阻塞高压也加强了负位相的北极涛动, 减弱了对流层极涡, 使得对流层极涡中心偏向东亚-北太平地区. 偏向东亚-北太平地区的对流层极涡、 乌拉尔阻塞和北美西部的下游阻塞高压脊在东亚-北太平洋地区共同形成了一个倒欧米伽形的环流型. 倒欧米伽环流型是引起东亚超强寒潮最直接和影响最大的环流系统. 此外, 倒欧米伽环流型的出现也激发了一个经向环流圈, 环流圈的上升支位于东亚, 而下沉支位于西伯利亚地区. 经向环流圈增强了西伯利亚高压和东亚地区低空的偏北风, 进一步有利于超强寒潮影响东亚地区. 因此, 平流层爆发性增温事件和对流层的环流系统, 如倒欧米伽环流型、 负位相的北极涛动、 乌拉尔阻塞、 西伯利亚高压以及Rossby波传播的下游效应共同导致了2021年1月初东亚地区超强寒潮的爆发.
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Acknowledgements
This work was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41790471, 41991284, and 41875104) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA20100304). The NCL script for calculating the Eliassen-Palm flux was provided by Joe Barsugli from his website at https://psl.noaa.gov/data/epflux/. The Python software for calculating the wave activity flux was provided by Lai Sheng from the website at https://github.com/shuanger1217/T-N_Wave-Activity-Flux. The daily minimum temperatures used in this study, which are derived from the Meteorological Disaster Risk Management System developed by the National Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration, are available from the China Meteorological Data Service Center (CMDC), National Meteorological Information Center (NMIC) (http://data.cma.cn/en/?r=data/detail&data-Code=SURF_CLI_CHN_MUL_DAY_CES_V3.0).
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Article Highlights
• A major stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) event occurred at the beginning of January 2021.
• The major SSW event exerted an important influence on the cold wave in East Asia in early January 2021.
• The SSW event, IOCP, negative Arctic oscillation, and enhanced Ural blocking/Siberian high eventually induced the cold wave in East Asia in early January 2021.
This paper is a contribution to the special issue on Extreme Cold Events from East Asia to North America in Winter 2020/21.
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Zhang, Y., Si, D., Ding, Y. et al. Influence of Major Stratospheric Sudden Warming on the Unprecedented Cold Wave in East Asia in January 2021. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 39, 576–590 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-022-1318-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-022-1318-9