VARIATION OF PRECIPITATION DURING WINTER AS A CAUSE OF SUSTAINED DROUGHT IN GUANGDONG DURING THE PAST 50 YEARS

The variation characteristics of precipitation during the winter (between October and the following March, to be referred to as just “the winter” hereafter) in Guangdong province during the past 50 years (from 1957 to 2006) and the relationship with Pacific SST are studied using the methods of Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis, wavelet analysis, and correlation analysis. The results show that The Guangdong precipitation during the winter exhibits quasi-periodic significant oscillations of 40 years and 2 years; rainfall is less from the end of the 1950s to the start of the 1970s and from the end of the 1990s to the present than from the mid 1970s to the mid 1990s. The frequency of sustained drought is more than sustained flooding during the winter. The Guangdong precipitation during this time period is in significantly positive correlation to the equatorial central and eastern Pacific SST, but in a significantly negative correlation with the western and northern Pacific SST east of the Philippine Sea. 61.5% of the sustained drought occurred in the phase of negative anomalies of the Ni?o3.4 index and 38.5% in the phase of positive ones. A composite analysis of atmospheric circulation is performed for the positive and negative phases of the Ni?o3.4 region associated with the sustained drought. The results showed that a weak polar vortex, a strong trough in Europe and a ridge near Balkhash Lake, active cold air and consistent northerly wind anomalies controlling Guangdong at low levels, an inactive westerly low disturbance in the low-mid latitude of the Asian continent, and a weak southern branch westerly trough, are all mutual causes for the sustained drought.