Climate analysis of tornadoes in China

Based on analysis of historical tornado observation data provided by the primary network of national weather stations in China for the period from 1960 to 2009,it is found that most tornadoes in China(85%)occurred over plains.Specifically,large numbers of tornado occurrences are found in the Northeast Plain,the North China Plain,the middle-lower Yangtze Plain,and the Pearl River Delta Plain.A flat underlying surface is conducive to tornado occurrence,while the latitudal variation of tornado occurrence in China is not so obvious.Tornadoes mainly occur in summer,and the highest frequency is in July.Note that the beginning and the time span of tornado outbreaks are different in North and South China.Tornadoes occur during May-September in South China(south of 25°N),June-September in Northeast China(north of 40°N),July-September in the middle-lower Yangtze Plain,and July-August in North China(between25°and 40°N).More than 80%of total tornadoes occurred during the above periods for the specific regions.The 1960s and 1970s have seen about twice the average number of tornadoes(7.5 times per year)compared to the mean for 1960-2009.The most frequent occurrence of tornado was in the early and mid 1960s;there were large fluctuations in the 1970s;and the number of tornadoes in the 1980s approached the 50-yr average.Tornado occurrences gradually decreased in the late 1980s,and an abrupt change with dramatic decrease occurred in 1994.The decrease in the tornado occurrence frequency is consistent with the simultaneous climatic change in the meteorological elements that are favorable for tornado formation.Tornado formation requires large vertical wind shear and sufficient atmospheric moisture content near the ground.Changes in the vertical wind shear at both 0-1 and 0-6 km appear to be one important factor that results in the decrease in tornado formation.The changing tendency of relative humidity also has contributed to the decrease in tornado formation in China.     

中国龙卷的时空分布特征

为研究登陆台风引发的龙卷过程特点,从而提高对其监测、潜势预报预警能力,通过2018年8月18日安徽灵璧龙卷的现场灾情调查,并利用地面加密自动站、欧洲再分析资料（ERA5）,结合蚌埠多普勒天气雷达和阜阳S波段双偏振雷达资料,分析了龙卷发生时的气象要素、大气环流、关键物理量及雷达回波特征。结果表明：此次龙卷发生时伴随有气压陡降陡升、气温剧烈下降、大风和短时强降水等,强度为EF0级,位于台风“温比亚”中心东北象限,具有对流有效位能（CAPE）和风暴水平相对螺旋度（SRH）的最佳配置,0—1 km SRH最大值为149 m²·s^-2,当垂直螺旋度（H_3l）增大时,龙卷发生。两部雷达均能探测到超级单体的钩状回波,中心反射率达60 dBz左右,存在有界弱回波、回波悬垂。当中气旋的形状由椭圆形向圆形转变、龙卷涡旋特征（TVS）的低层径向速度差迅速增大时,灵璧发生龙卷灾害。另外,双偏振雷达可探测165 km处超级单体的钩状回波,对龙卷的探测范围更广,并能识别出更明显的正负速度对和龙卷碎片特征（TDS）,对龙卷有更强的探测能力。

     

近30a中国龙卷风灾害特征研究

基于中国气象局气象灾害灾情普查数据库中龙卷风灾情数据,采用时间序列统计分析、趋势分析和GIS空间分析方法,对1984—2013年中国龙卷风发生频次及其灾情进行了统计分析,同时分析了中国龙卷风及其灾害的时空分布特征。结果表明:近30 a,中国龙卷风灾害年发生次数和龙卷风导致的死亡(含失踪)人数、倒损房屋数量和直接经济损失均呈现下降趋势,其中龙卷风灾害发生频次和死亡人数下降趋势明显,而直接经济损失下降趋势较弱;中国龙卷风灾害发生次数及其导致的死亡人数、倒损房屋和直接经济损失均表现为夏季最多,春季次之,其中,7月份龙卷风发生次数最多且灾情最重;空间分布上,中国龙卷风灾害发生次数和直接经济损失均表现为西少东多的特征,死亡人数和倒损房屋数量主要分布在我国东部偏南地区;西北和西南地区龙卷风灾害发生少、灾情轻,而中东部地区的江苏、安徽、湖北、湖南、江西和广东龙卷风发生频次高、死亡(含失踪)人数多且经济损失较重,其中江苏和安徽最为严重。     

A developing inventory of tornadoes in France

The analysis of 304 French tornadoes shows that the most struck areas are the northwestern part of the country, the south and the east. Tornadoes occur mainly in spring and in summer; August is the month when the frequency is maximum. Tornadoes move mainly from southwest to northeast, except in the south where the direction is sometimes south to north. Thirty-six killer tornadoes were listed (12% of the cases); most of them with an intensity greater or equal to F3. The occurrence is approximately 15–20 tornadoes each year in France, and the annual risk probability of significant tornadoes in France is 0.66×10⁻⁵. This value is probably underestimated because all the tornadoes are not listed.     

1804号台风“艾云尼”龙卷分析

2018年6月8日,在1804号台风“艾云尼”螺旋雨带中发生了两次陆龙卷天气,分别袭击了广州市南沙区横沥镇和佛山市南海区大沥镇。利用广州CINRAD/SA多普勒天气雷达、佛山CINRAD/XD多普勒天气雷达、5 min间隔的地面自动气象站和MICAPS等资料,研究了两次陆龙卷的天气背景、环境参数和龙卷风暴中尺度结构特征。结果表明:广州南沙龙卷为台风环流外围龙卷,位于台风中心的东北象限,强度为EF3级;佛山南海龙卷为台风环流内部龙卷,位于台风中心的东侧,强度为EF1级。龙卷均发生在中低空强东南急流在珠江口附近上下叠加和高层辐散的有利大尺度环流背景下。环境条件表现为较强的低层风垂直切变和较大的风暴相对螺旋度（SRH）、较小的对流有效位能（CAPE）和对流抑制能量（CIN）、极低的抬升凝结高度（LCL）;地面存在中尺度辐合线和小尺度涡旋。广州S波段雷达探测到两次龙卷母风暴的低层钩状回波和入流缺口回波特征及低层中等强度中气旋,龙卷出现在钩状回波顶端、中气旋中心附近。佛山X波段双偏振雷达清晰地探测到佛山南海区大沥龙卷的微型超级单体和龙卷碎片特征（TDS）。      

辽宁省温带气旋龙卷的环境参数特征

基于上海青浦双偏振雷达、武汉多普勒天气雷达、新一代天气雷达组网拼图、地面加密自动气象站和ERA5再分析等数据,对2021年5月14日夜间苏州、武汉相继出现的致灾严重的龙卷天气过程,从天气背景、地面触发机制、雷达探测特征和环境参数等方面进行了对比分析,结果表明：(1) 苏州、武汉两地龙卷均发生在西南暖湿气流强迫背景下,低层高温高湿,均受到低空急流和超低空急流影响,但两地龙卷发生位置与对应的急流位置不同,苏州龙卷西侧对应东侧急流出口区,武汉龙卷正好对应西侧急流出口区;(2) 苏州龙卷是由阵风锋引起的辐合线配合强度适宜的弱冷池触发的;武汉龙卷发生时地面存在中尺度辐合中心和弱冷池;(3) 两地龙卷均发生在孤立右移超级单体伴随低层中气旋突然加强之时,龙卷涡旋特征(TVS)分别出现在苏州龙卷和武汉龙卷发生前2 min和3 min;(4) 有别于美国龙卷发生的环境条件,苏州龙卷发生在高的对流有效位能、较低的抬升凝结高度和对流抑制能量以及中等偏弱的风暴相对螺旋度和垂直风切变条件下;武汉龙卷则发生在弱的对流有效位能、较低的抬升凝结高度、较高的对流抑制能量以及强的风暴相对螺旋度和垂直风切变条件下。比较而言,两地龙卷发生前和发生时,苏州龙卷的热力条件较好、动力条件中等偏弱,而武汉龙卷的动力条件较好、热力条件偏弱,可见两地龙卷均发生在热力和动力条件互补的环境下。

     

Prairie tornadoes: Research note

Abstract

The frequency of tornadoes on the Canadian Prairies is a subject of much current debate. The author questions the traditional view that tornado frequency on the Prairies decreases westwards from southern Manitoba. A study of various sources of information on severe thunderstorm events on both sides of the 49th parallel leads to the conclusion that prairie tornadoes often are not isolated singular cases but rather are members of tornado outbreaks. Tornadoes in the northern Great Plains and Prairies are more frequent than has previously been thought, and are likely to be under‐reported compared with those of “tornado alley” in the United States. The Prairie Region can validly be regarded as an outlying section of the North American tornado belt.     

The climatology of tornadoes and waterspouts in Italy

In this work 10 years of reports collected by weather amateurs are used to define a preliminary climatology of tornadoes and waterspouts in Italy. The results show behaviors different from those observed in other countries. Generally, tornadoes and waterspouts are more frequent in late summer and autumn than in the other seasons. The seasonality of tornadoes and waterspouts appears different for different Italian zones, in particular in the Po Valley and Friulian plain and coast (south to the Alps) tornadoes and waterspouts are more frequent in spring and early summer while in the Tirrenian and Ionian coasts (western and southern Italy), tornadoes and waterspouts are more frequent in late summer and autumn. As observed in other studies (Brooks, H., E. and Doswell, C. A. III, 2001. Some aspects of the international climatology of tornadoes by damage classification. Atmos. Res., 56, 191–201.) Italian tornadoes and waterspouts are statistically weaker than in other countries but this difference cannot be completely ascribed to the presence of waterspouts. The “CAPE Storm-Relative-Helicity diagrams” and “Shear Magnitude diagrams” obtained for Italian tornadoes and waterspouts show different characteristics than those obtained for US. The cause of these differences is still unknown, it can rely in the sample selection (problems with the concept of proximity sounding) or in a real climatic effect.     

Recent advances in monsoon studies in China

This review provides a synopsis of the major progress that has been made in monsoon studies in China and to further bridge the gap between the Chinese and international meteorological community. It consists of seven major sections. After the introduction, the second section begins with the global monsoon systems and their seasonal variation, based on some new methods proposed in recent years. Besides, some major intraseasonal features of East Asian monsoon, including the onset of South China Sea summer monsoon are discussed. In the third section, we review the interactions between ENSO and the East Asian monsoon, focusing in particular on the results of Chinese meteorologists that indicate the influence of ENSO on the East Asian summer monsoon(EASM) is obviously different from that on the tropical monsoon. Besides the tropical Pacific,other ocean basins, such as the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, are also important to the East Asian monsoon, and this topic is discussed in the fourth section. In the fifth section, we address the role of land surface processes in East Asian monsoon. For example, we describe work that has shown more snow cover in spring on the Tibetan Plateau is followed by a weakened EASM and more summer rainfall in the Yangtze River valleys. The sixth section focuses on the influence of atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere(SH) on EASM, demonstrating how the signal from the SH is likely to provide new clues for the seasonal forecasting of summer rainfall in China. Finally, in the seventh section, we concentrate on the interdecadal variations of EASM. In particular, we look at a significant interdecadal variation that occurred at the end of the 1970 s, and how our understanding of this feature could affect forecasting ability.     

Sounding-derived parameters associated with large hail and tornadoes in the Netherlands

A study is presented focusing on the potential value of parameters derived from radiosonde data or data from numerical atmospheric models for the forecasting of severe weather associated with convective storms. Parameters have been derived from soundings in the proximity of large hail, tornadoes (including tornadoes over water: waterspouts) and thunderstorms in the Netherlands. 66,365 radiosonde soundings from six stations in and around the Netherlands between 1 Dec. 1975 to 31 Aug. 2003 were classified as being associated or not associated with these weather phenomena using observational data from voluntary observers, the Dutch National Meteorological Institute (KNMI) and lightning data from the U.K. Met. Office. It was found that instability as measured by the Lifted Index or CAPE and 0–6 km wind shear independently have considerable skill in distinguishing environments of large hail and of non-hail-producing thunderstorms. It was also found that CAPE released below 3 km above ground level is on average high near waterspouts and weak tornadoes that mostly occur with low shear in the lowest 1 km above the Earth's surface. On the other hand, low-level shear is strong in environments of stronger (F1 and F2) tornadoes and increases with increasing F-scale. This is consistent with the notion that stretching of pre-existing vertical vorticity is the most important mechanism for the formation of weak tornadoes while the tilting of vorticity is more important with stronger tornadoes. The presented results may assist forecasters to assess the likelihood of severe hail or tornadoes.     

Recent progress in atmospheric observation research in China

Recent progress in atmospheric observation techniques, observational systems and their application in China are reviewed. According to different observational platforms, the review is presented in three sections, i.e., satellite remote sensing （SRS）, ground-based observation technologies and applications, and aircraft/balloon measurements. The section ＂satellite remote sensing＂ presents advances in SRS techniques, SRS of clouds and aerosols, and SRS of trace gases and temperature/moisture profiles. The section ＂groundbased observation technologies and applications＂ focuses on research such as lidar systems and applications, sun/sky radiometer and broadband radiation observations, weather radar and wind profilers, GPS measurements, and some new concept systems. The section ＂aircraft/balloon measurements＂ presents some newly developed aircraft- and balloon-based sounding techniques.     

Recent Progress in Numerical Atmospheric Modeling in China

This review summarizes the scientific and technical progress in atmospheric modeling in China since 2011,including the dynamical core,model physics,data assimilation,ensemble forecasting,and model evaluation strategies.In terms of the dynamical core,important efforts have been made in the improvement of the existing model formulations and in exploring new modeling approaches that can better adapt to massively parallel computers and global multiscale modeling.With regard to model physics,various achievements in physical representations have been made,especially a trend toward scale-aware parameterization for accommodating the increase of model resolution.In the field of data assimilation,a 4D-Var system has been developed and is operationally used by the National Meteorological Center of China,and its performance is promising.Furthermore,ensemble forecasting has played a more important role in operational forecast systems and progressed in many fundamental techniques.Model evaluation strategies,including key performance metrics and standardized experimental protocols,have been proposed and widely applied to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the systems,offering key routes for model improvement.The paper concludes with a concise summary of the status quo and a brief outlook in terms of future development.     

Recent progress in cloud physics research in China

A review of China cloud physics research during 2003-2006 is made in this paper. The studies on cloud field experiments and observation, cloud physics and precipitation, including its theoretical applications in hail suppression and artificial rain enhancement, cloud physics and lightning, and clouds and climate change are included. Due primarily to the demand from weather modification activities, the issue of cloud physics and weather modification has been addressed in China with many field experiments and model studies. While cloud physics and weather modification is still an important research field, the interaction between aerosol, cloud and radiation processes, which is the key issue of current climate change research, has become a new research direction in China over the past four years.     

中国近几年热带气旋研究进展

总结了中国过去几年尤其是“八五”结束后热带气旋领域取得的研究成果。主要包括以下几个方面的内容：热带气旋的结构、数值预报研究、业务数值预报评估、热带气旋暴雨、热带气旋的气候特征以及热带气旋的灾害等等。     

Recent and Future Climate Change in Northwest China

As a consequence of global warming and an enhanced water cycle, the climate changed in northwest China, most notably in the Xinjiang area in the year 1987. Precipitation, glacial melt water and river runoff and air temperature increased continuously during the last decades, as did also the water level of inland lakes and the frequency of flood disasters. As a result, the vegetation cover is improved, number of days with sand-dust storms reduced. From the end of the 19th century to the 1970s, the climate was warm and dry, and then changed to warm and wet. The effects on northwest China can be classified into three classes by using the relation between precipitation and evaporation increase. If precipitation increases more than evaporation, runoff increases and lake water levels rise. We identify regions with: (1) notable change, (2) slight change and (3) no change. The future climate for doubled CO₂ concentration is simulated in a nested approach with the regional climate model-RegCM2. The annual temperature will increase by 2.7 ^ C and annual precipitation by 25%. The cooling effect of aerosols and natural factors will reduce this increase to 2.0 ^C and 19% of precipitation. As a consequence, annual runoff may increase by more than 10%.     

Recent Progress in Studies of Climate Change in China

An overview of basic research on climate change in recent years in China is presented. In the past 100 years in China, average annual mean surface air temperature (SAT) has increased at a rate ranging from 0.03℃ (10 yr)-1 to 0.12℃ (10 yr)-1 . This warming is more evident in northern China and is more significant in winter and spring. In the past 50 years in China, at least 27% of the average annual warming has been caused by urbanization. Overall, no significant trends have been detected in annual and/or summer precipitation in China on a whole for the past 100 years or 50 years. Both increases and decreases in frequencies of major extreme climate events have been observed for the past 50 years. The frequencies of extreme temperature events have generally displayed a consistent pattern of change across the country, while the frequencies of extreme precipitation events have shown only regionally and seasonally significant trends. The frequency of tropical cyclone landfall decreased slightly, but the frequency of sand/dust storms decreased significantly. Proxy records indicate that the annual mean SAT in the past a few decades is the highest in the past 400-500 years in China, but it may not have exceeded the highest level of the Medieval Warm Period (1000-1300 AD). Proxy records also indicate that droughts and floods in eastern China have been characterized by continuously abnormal rainfall periods, with the frequencies of extreme droughts and floods in the 20th century most likely being near the average levels of the past 2000 years. The attribution studies suggest that increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere are likely to be a main factor for the observed surface warming nationwide. The Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins underwent a cooling trend in summer over the past 50 years, which might have been caused by increased aerosol concentrations and cloud cover. However, natural climate variability might have been a main driver for the mean and extreme precipitation variations observed over the past century. Climate models generally perform well in simulating the variations of annual mean SAT in China. They have also been used to project future changes in SAT under varied GHG emission scenarios. Large uncertainties have remained in these model-based projections, however, especially for the projected trends of regional precipitation and extreme climate events.     

我国近30年龙卷风研究进展

从3方面总结了龙卷风研究成果:①研究概况,最初的龙卷风灾后调查到开展天气气候特征分析至近年来开展龙卷风本体结构、产生机制的探讨,获得了丰硕成果;②研究方法提高,从事实调查到利用统计方法,从利用台站常规观测资料到运用卫星、多普勒雷达、风廓线仪等非常规资料开展分析,近年数值模式WRF、ARPS等也被用来研究龙卷风,研究的方法手段不断得到改进;③龙卷风研究、预报面临的困难和未来展望。     

Recent Studies on Attributions of Climate Change in China

Attributions of floods/cooler along the Yangtze River Valley and droughts/warmer in North China forthe last 25 years have been reviewed in this paper. Both natural climate variability and human activitiesare considered. Some stronger evidences contributed to the natural climate variability, such as decadal andinterdecadal variabilities of East Asian summer monsoon, the periodicities and transitions of rainfall andtemperature changes in China, abrupt climate change, NAO, AO, AAO, ENSO, …