Abstract
This study analyzes the interannual relationship between preceding winter Aleutian low (AL) and spring extreme consecutive dry days (extreme-CDDs) in the Yangtze-Huai River region (YHR) during 1979–2019. The results show that, independent from the El Niño-Southern Oscillation variability, a weakened AL in February is accompanied by more spring extreme-CDDs in YHR. Additionally, such a relationship shows a remarkable decadal enhancement after the late-1990s, in which the changes in the Bering Sea ice (BSI) and stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) play bridging roles. On the one hand, the weakened AL could lead to decreased BSI in spring during the whole period by inducing anomalous warm-moist air transport and the resultant radiation effect. After the late-1990s, the decreased BSI could cause a stronger anomalous high over Lake Baikal in spring by exciting an eastward propagated atmospheric wave train, favoring downward motions and more extreme-CDDs in YHR. On the other hand, after the late-1990s, the weakened AL could induce an intensified SPV persisting from late February to early spring by inhibiting the upward propagation of planetary wave. The SPV signal could in turn propagate downward to the troposphere, also contributing to anomalous high over Lake Baikal in spring and more extreme-CDDs in YHR. In contrast, the stratosphere-troposphere interaction associated with anomalous AL is weak before the late-1990s. Through the above-mentioned physical processes, the February AL could have a significantly lagged impact on spring extreme-CDDs in YHR after the late-1990s, consequently providing valuable prediction source for the variability of spring extreme-CDDs in YHR.
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Data availability
Daily station precipitation data in China can be accessed from http://data.cma.cn. The ERA5 reanalysis dataset can be downloaded from https://climate.copernicus.eu/climate-reanalysis. The Hadley sea ice concentration dataset is derived from https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadisst. Niño and AMO indices are available at https://psl.noaa.gov/data/climateindices. The integration dataset of Tibet Plateau boundary is provided by National Tibetan Plateau Data Center (http://data.tpdc.ac.cn; Zhang 2019; Zhang et al. 2021). Text of the Chinese national standard of precipitation grade could be viewed online from the website at https://openstd.samr.gov.cn/bzgk/gb/index.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41825010).
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41825010).
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Conceptualization: JS; Data curation: ZZ; Formal analysis and investigation: JS, ZZ; Funding acquisition: JS; Methodology: ZZ; Software: ZZ; Supervision: JS; Visualization: ZZ; Writing—original draft preparation: ZZ; Writing—review and editing: JS.
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Zeng, Z., Sun, J. Enhanced relationship between February Aleutian low and spring extreme consecutive dry days in the Yangtze-Huai River region in recent two decades: roles of Bering Sea ice and stratospheric polar vortex. Clim Dyn 61, 5131–5146 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-06844-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-06844-1