Analysis of water vapor characteristics in snowstorm process on the northern slope of Tianshan Mountains北大核心CSCD

Based on the daily precipitation data of 16 national meteorological observation stations on the north? ern slope of Tianshan Mountains from 2000 to 2020（September to April the following year），28 blizzard weath? er processes were screened out. Then NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and HYSPLIT model were used to simulate backward tracking of the water vapor during the snowstorm，analysis of the circulation background of the snow? storm process on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains，as well as the main sources and transport of wa? ter vapor and its contribution to the snowstorm. The research showed that the snowstorm area in the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains was located on the right side of the axis of the southwest jet at 300 hPa high，the southwest airflow in front of the West Siberia trough at 500 hPa，the front convergence of the exit area of the southwest jet at low level at 700 hPa，and the convergence area of water vapor flux divergence and the overlap near the ground cold front area. The water vapor affecting the blizzard on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains mainly came from the Mediterranean Sea，the Black Sea and its vicinity，Southwest Asia，Central Asia，the Atlantic Ocean and its coasts，as well as the 850 hPa water vapor in Europe and northern Xinjiang. The water vapor from North America and other places had a relatively small contribution to the blizzard；after each water vapor source reaches the key area with the westerly airflow，under suitable circulation conditions. It mainly entered the blizzard area along the westward（southwest）and the northwest paths. But there were some differences between the layers. Based on the above characteristics，the structure of the source and transport of wa? ter vapor in the snowstorm process on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains was established and the char? acteristics of vapor transport at various heights were revealed. © 2023 The Author(s).