An analysis of heavy precipitation caused by a retracing plateau vortex based on TRMM data

In this paper, we study a persistent heavy precipitation process caused by a special retracing plateau vortex in the eastern Tibetan Plateau during 21–26 July 2010 using tropical rainfall measuring mission (TRMM) data. Results show that during the whole heavy rainfall process, the precipitation rate of convective cloud is steady for all four phases of the plateau vortex movement. Compared with the convective precipitation clouds, the stratiform precipitation clouds have a higher fraction of area, a comparable ratio of contribution to the total precipitation, and a much lower precipitation rate. Precipitation increases substantially after the vortex moves out of the Tibetan Plateau, and Sichuan Province has the most extensive precipitation, which occurs when the vortex turns back westward. A number of strong convective precipitation cloud centers appear at 3–5 km. With strong upward motion, the highest rain top can reach up to 15 km. In various phases of the vortex evolution, there is always more precipitable ice than precipitable water, cloud ice water and cloud liquid water. The precipitating cloud particles increase significantly in the middle and lower troposphere when the vortex moves eastward, and cloud ice particles increase quickly at 6–8 km when the vortex retraces westward. The center of the latent heat release is always prior to the center of the vortex, and the vortex moves along the latent heat release areas. Moreover, high latent heat is released at 5–8 km with maximum at 7 km. Also, the latent heat release is more significant when the vortex moves out of the Tibetan Plateau than over the Tibetan Plateau.