Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Climatic characteristics of thunderstorm days and the influence of atmospheric environment in Northwestern China

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Natural Hazards Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The annual trend in thunderstorm activity during a 42-year period from 1971 to 2012 over the transition region of the Tibetan Plateau and the Loess Plateau in China was documented. The delimiting factor was the number of days with thunderstorms collected from 64 stations over the study area. Reanalysis data from JRA-55, NCEP and ERA-Interim were used to understand the underlying reasons for the trend in the number of thunderstorm days. The results show that thunderstorms in this area were most active in the summer, followed by spring and autumn, while no thunderstorms were reported during the winter. Two centers with high number of thunderstorm days were revealed, one of which is located in the Gannan area close to the Tibetan Plateau and the other is in the Yongdeng and Wushaoling area east of the Qilian Mountains. The Loess Plateau in comparison has a lower frequency of thunderstorm days. There was no trend in the mean annual thunderstorm days from 1971 to the early 1990s, but a significant decreasing trend occurred afterward (until 2012), with the most important trend occurring during the summer when thunderstorms were the most numerous. The decrease in thunderstorm days was associated with a nonsignificant decrease in the convective available potential energy. Circulation patterns and moisture fluxes were analyzed to understand the observed difference between the two periods. Years with relatively high thunderstorm days (1971–1990) were characterized by relatively high water vapor flux to the study region, as well as having the western ridge of the western Pacific subtropical high located further east than during the years 1991–2012 with fewer thunderstorms. There were also relatively low 500 hPa geopotential heights in the north of China and the Mongolia in the earlier period. It is suggested that the relative changes in the position of the subtropical high and the 500 hPa trough are related to changes in the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen JT, Karoly DJ (2014) A climatology of Australian severe thunderstorm environments 1979–2011: inter-annual variability and ENSO influence. Int J Climatol 34:81–97. doi:10.1002/joc.3667

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Allen JT, Tippett M, Sobel A (2015) Influence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation on US hail and tornado frequency. Nat Geosci 8:278–283. doi:10.1038/NGEO2385

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ARC (2007) Talking about disaster: guide for standard messages. The American Red Cross, Washington, DC. http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/winter/resources/Complete_Guide_Disasters-redcross.pdf

  • Bechtold P, Lalaurette F, Ghelli A, Miller M (2003) Forecasts of severe convection. ECMWF Newslett 98:8–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Beringer J, Tapper N (2002) Surface energy exchanges and interactions with thunderstorms during the maritime continent thunderstorm experiment (MCTEX). J Geophys Res 107(D21):AAC 3-1–AAC 3-13. doi:10.1029/2001jd00143

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouwer LM (2011) Have disaster losses increased due to anthropogenic climate change? Bull Am Meteorol Soc 92:39–46. doi:10.1175/2010BAMS3092.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks HE (2009) Proximity soundings for severe convection for Europe and the United States from reanalysis data. Atmos Res 93:546–553. doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2008.10.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks HE, Lee JW, Craven JP (2003) The spatial distribution of severe thunderstorm and tornado environments from global reanalysis data. Atmos Res 67:73–94. doi:10.1016/S0169-8095(03)00045-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Changnon SA (1988a) Climatography of thunder events in the conterminous United States. Part II: spatial aspects. J Clim 1:399–405. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1988)001<0399:COTEIT>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Changnon SA (1988b) Climatography of thunder events in the conterminous United States. Part I: temporal aspects. J Clim 1:389–398. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1988)001<0389:COTEIT>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Changnon SA (2003) Shifting economic impacts from weather extremes in the United States: a result of societal changes, not global warming. Nat Hazards 29(2):273–290. doi:10.1023/A:1023642131794

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen SR, Zhu WJ, Zhou B (2009) Climate characteristic and variation tendency of thunderstorm in China. Trans Atmos Sci 32(5):703–710 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook AR, Schaefer JT (2008) The relation of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to winter tornado outbreaks. Mon Weather Rev 136:3121–3137. doi:10.1175/2007mwr2171.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cui XD, Gao YQ, Sun JQ (2014) The response of the East Asian summer monsoon to strong tropical volcanic eruptions. Adv Atmos Sci 31(6):1245–1255. doi:10.1007/s00376-014-3239-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De U, Dube R, Rao GP (2005) Extreme weather events over India in the last 100 years. J Indian Geophys Union 9(3):173–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Dee DP, Uppala SM, Simmons AJ, Berrisford P, Poli P, Kobayashi S, Andrae U, Balmaseda MA, Balsamo G, Bauer P, Bechtold P, Beljaars ACM, van de Berg L, Bidlot J, Bormann N, Delsol C, Dragani R, Fuentes M, Geer A, Haimberger L, Healy SB, Hersbach H, Hólm EV, Isaksen L, Kållberg Köhler PM, Matricardi M, McNally AP, Monge-Sanz BM, Morcrette JJ, Park BK, Peubey C, de Rosnay P, Tavolato C, Thépaut JN, Vitart F (2011) The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system. Q J R Meteorol Soc 137:553–597. doi:10.1002/qj.828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding R, Ha K-J, Li J (2010) Interdecadal shift in the relationship between the East Asian summer monsoon and the tropical Indian Ocean. Clim Dyn 34:1059–1071. doi:10.1007/s00382-009-0555-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ding YH, Sun Y, Liu YY et al (2013) Interdecadal and interannual variabilities of the Asian summer monsoon and its projection of future change. Chin J Atmos Sci 37(2):253–280. doi:10.3878/j.issn.1006-9895.2012 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Doswell CA III (2001) severe convective storms—an overview. Meteorol Monogr 28(50):1–26. doi:10.1175/0065-9401-28.50.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doswell CA, Rasmussen EN (1994) The effect of neglecting the virtual temperature correction CAPE calculations. Weather Forecast 9:625–629. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(1994)009%3c0625:teontv%3e2.0.co;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doswell CA III, Brooks HE, Maddox RA (1996) Flash flood forecasting: an ingredients-based methodology. Weather Forecast 11(4):560–581. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(1996)011%3c0560:FFFAIB%3e2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dowdy A (2015) Seasonal forecasting of lightning and thunderstorm activity in tropical and temperate regions of the world. Sci Rep (in press)

  • Fasullo J, Webster PJ (2003) A hydrological definition of the Indian summer monsoon onset and withdrawal. J Clim 16:3200–3211. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<3200a:AHDOIM>2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gensini VA, Ashley WS (2011) Climatology of potentially severe convective environments from the North American regional reanalysis. Electron J Severe Storms Meteorol 6:1–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Gong CS, Zeng SL, Wang JJ et al (2013) Analyses on climatic characteristics of thunderstorm in China in recent 30 years. Plateau Meteorol 32(5):1442–1449 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamed KH (2008) Trend detection in hydrologic data: the Mann–Kendall trend test under the scaling hypothesis. J Hydrol 349(3–4):350–363. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.11.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch RM, Slack JR, Smith RA (1982) Techniques of trend analysis for monthly water-quality data. Water Resour Res 18(1):107–121. doi:10.1029/WR018i001p00107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu Y, Duan YH (2006) Climatic change related to thunderstorm days and proble impact factors in Shanghai. Period Ocean Univ China 36(4):588–594 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ji XL, Mu JH, Zhou H et al (2009) Statistic climate characteristics and thunderstorm weather tendency in Ningxia during the last 45 years. J Desert Res 29(4):744–749 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Johns RH, Doswell CA (1992) Severe local storms forecasting. Weather Forecast 7(4):588–612. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(1992)007%3c0588:slsf%3e2.0.co;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall MG (1975) Rank correlation methods. Charles Griffin, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobayashi S, Ota Y, Harada Y, Ebita A, Moriya M, Onoda H, Onogi K, Kamahori H, Kobayashi C, Endo H, Miyaoka K, Takahashi K (2015) The JRA-55 reanalysis: general specifications and basic characteristics. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 93(1):5–48. doi:10.2151/jmsj.2015-001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koo CC (1978) The climatic characteristics of thunderstorms in China. Acta Geogr Sin 33(1):42–49 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee S-K, Atlas R, Enfield DB, Wang C, Liu H (2013) Is there an optimal ENSO pattern that enhances large-scale atmospheric processes conducive to tornado outbreaks in the United States? J Clim 26(5):1626–1642. doi:10.1175/jcli-d-12-00128.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leigh R, Kuhnel I (2001) Hailstorm loss modelling and risk assessment in the Sydney region, Australia. Nat Hazards 24:171–185. doi:10.1007/s00382-009-0555-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li ZR, Kang FQ, Ma SP (2005) Analysis on climatic characteristics of thunderstorm in northwest China. J Catastrophol 20(2):83–88 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Li XZ, Ma ZG, Liu XD (2006) Inter-decadal characteristics of aridification over Northern China associated with the variation of atmospheric circulation during the past 50 years. Chin J Atmos Sci 30(2):277–284 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin J, Qu XB (2008) Spatial and temporal characteristics of thunderstorm in China. Meteorol Mon 34(11):22–30 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ma ZG, Fu CB (2003) Interannual characteristics of the surface hydrological variables over the arid and semi-arid areas of northern China. Glob Planet Chang 37:189–200. doi:10.1016/s0921-8181(02)00203-5

    Google Scholar 

  • Mann HB (1945) Non-parametric test against trend. Econometrika 13:245–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pattiaratchi C, Wijeratne EMS (2014) Observations of meteorological tsunamis along the south-west Australian coast. Nat Hazards 74(1):281–303. doi:10.1007/s11069-014-1263-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulikas MJ (2014) Examining population bias relative to severe thunderstorm hazard reporting trends in the Atlanta, GA metropolitan region. Meteorol Appl 21(3):494–503. doi:10.1002/met.1394

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinto O (2014) Thunderstorm climatology of Brazil: ENSO and tropical Atlantic connections. Int J Climatol. doi:10.1002/joc.4022

    Google Scholar 

  • Qian WM, Luo YL, Zhang RH, Gong Y (2011) The heavy rainfall event leading to the large debris flow at Zhouqu. J Appl Meteorol Sci 22(4):385–397

    Google Scholar 

  • Saha U, Midya S, Das G (2011) The effect of the variable component of 10.7 cm solar flux on the thunderstorm frequency over Kolkata and its relation with ozone depletion mechanism. Pac J Sci Technol 12:591–597

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen PK (1968) Estimates of the regression coefficient based on Kendall’s tau. J Am Stat As 63:1379–1389. doi:10.1080/01621459.1968.10480934

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi J, Cui L (2012) Characteristics of high impact weather and meteorological disaster in Shanghai, China. Nat Hazards 60(3):951–969. doi:10.1007/s11069-011-9877-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trenberth KE (1991) Climate diagnostics from global analyses: conservation of mass in ECMWF analyses. J Clim 4:707–722. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1991)004%3c0707:CDFGAC%3e2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Zhou L (2005) Observed trends in extreme precipitation events in China during 1961–2001 and the associated changes in large-scale circulation. Geophys Res Lett. doi:10.1029/2005GL022574

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang BJ, Huang YX, He JH et al (2004) Relation between vapour transportation in the period of East Asian summer monsoon and drought in Northwest China. Plateau Meteorol 23(6):912–918 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang KL, Jiang H, Zhao HY (2005) Atmospheric water vapor transport from westerly and monsoon over the Northwest China. Adv Water Sci 16(3):432–438 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang B, Huang F, Wu ZW, Yang J, Fu X, Kikuchi K (2009) Multi-scale climate variability of the South China sea monsoon: a review. Dyn Atmos Oceans 47:15–37. doi:10.1016/j.dynatmoce.2008.09.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Z, Li J, Jiang Z, He J, Zhu X (2012) Possible effects of the North Atlantic oscillation on the strengthening relationship between the East Asian summer monsoon and ENSO. Int J Climatol 32(5):794–800. doi:10.1002/joc.2309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie B, Zhang Q, Wang Y (2008) Trends in hail in China during 1960–2005. Geophys Res Lett. doi:10.1029/2008gl034067

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu M, Li Q, Hayes MJ, Svoboda MD, Heim RR (2014) Are droughts becoming more frequent or severe in China based on the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index: 1951–2010? Int J Climatol 34(3):545–558. doi:10.1002/joc.3701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhai X, Xia J, Zhang Y (2014) Water quality variation in the highly disturbed Huai River Basin, China from 1994 to 2005 by multi-statistical analyses. Sci Total Environ 496:594–606. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.06.101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang MF, Feng X (1998) A study on climatic features and anomalies of the thunderstorm in China. J Trop Meteorol 14(2):156–162 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao P, Zhou ZJ (2005) East Asian subtropical summer monsoon index and its relationships to rainfall. Acta Meteorol Sin 23(1):18–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Zou X, Yang H (2007) Simulation on the thunderstorm weather processes caused by northeast cold vortex based on MM5 and WRF models. J Meteorol Environ 23(6):0–25 (in Chinese)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Gansu Meteorological Information Center for providing the thunderstorm day data as well as the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) for providing the monthly average reanalysis data (http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/reanalysis/). This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2014CB441404). We also thank the three anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, People’s Republic of China

    Ye Yu, Jiang-lin Li, Jin Xie & Chuan Liu

  2. Pingliang Land Surface Process and Severe Weather Research Station, Chinese Academy of Science, Pingliang, 744015, Gansu, People’s Republic of China

    Ye Yu, Jiang-lin Li, Jin Xie & Chuan Liu

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, 100049, People’s Republic of China

    Jiang-lin Li, Jin Xie & Chuan Liu

Authors
  1. Ye Yu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jiang-lin Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jin Xie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Chuan Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ye Yu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yu, Y., Li, Jl., Xie, J. et al. Climatic characteristics of thunderstorm days and the influence of atmospheric environment in Northwestern China. Nat Hazards 80, 823–838 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1999-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-015-1999-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation