A case study of excessive rainfall forecasting

Summary Flash floods have been recognized as one of the most significant natural disaster problems in the world. Within the United States, the annual average flood death toll exceeds one hundred and property damage is on the order of a billion dollars. There has been an increased effort of the meteorological community to improve short term quantitative precipitation forecasting, principally by improving mesoscale numerical weather prediction for heavy rain events. Nevertheless, to date, numerical weather prediction has had rather limited impact on the prediction of the most damaging convective rainstorms.This study examines numerical experiments, including both coarse-mesh and fine-mesh model simulations, of the Enid, Oklahoma flood of 10–11 October 1973. Besides the great concentration of rainfall, the Enid flood was rather unique in comparison with other flash flood cases in that it was part of a much larger area of heavy rainfall which soaked the central Plains over the 24h period ending at 1200 UTC 11 October. The objective is to assess the overall usefulness and limitation of numerical weather prediction models in quantitative precipitation forecasting for this flash flood event.The model experiments reveal that the broad-scale precipitation patterns associated with the front and cyclone are well predicted, but the maximum rainfall amounts around Enid are underpredicted. The fine-mesh model is superior to the coarse-mesh model because of the former's ability to generate many significant mesoscale features in the vicinity of the front. In the fine-mesh model, many convection-related parameters (e.g., moisture flux convergence) are correlated very well temporally and spatially with the observed heavy precipitation scenario.     

Synoptic and dynamic analysis of a flash flood-inducing heavy rainfall event in arid and semi-arid central-northern Iran and its simulation using the WRF model

The synoptic and dynamic aspects of heavy rainfall occurred on 5th May 2017 and caused flash flooding in arid and semi-arid central-northern Iran is analyzed by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. This system synoptically is attributed to a surface low-pressure centered over southern Iran extended to the central parts, linking to a mid-tropospheric tilted-trough over western Iran, and advecting significant moisture from the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea to the studied area. The dynamical analysis revealed that the penetration of the upper-tropospheric potential vorticity streamer up to 300 hPa level was not related to such heavy rainfall. Contrarily, the low-level factors such as extensive moisture advection, mid-tropospheric diabatic processes such as the latent heat release, daytime deep convection, and topographical impact of Zagros Mountains were found as the key factors leading to this system. This study also examines 11 different convection schemes simulated by the WRF model and verified against rainfall observation. The forecast skills of the output simulations suggest the Grell-Devenyi scheme as the superior configuration in simulating observed precipitation of the event over the area.     

基于ECMWF细网格模式产品的湿螺旋度在四川盆地强降水预报的应用试验

利用欧洲中期数值预报中心(ECMWF)高分辨率预报场(0.25°×0.25°)资料以及四川省加密自动站降水量资料对2011年汛期7—9月和2012年5—7月共计20例强降水个例进行湿螺旋度指标的统计分析,分别归纳总结出6和24 h内强降水发生发展及落区分布的判据指标。利用这些判据指标对2012年8月30日至9月1日及9月8日发生在四川盆地的两例强降水过程及2013年汛期6—8月暴雨个例进行检验并在汛期投入了业务预报工作。检验结果表明:低层700或850 hPa湿螺旋度正值区的分布对强降水落区分布指示较好;当强降水发生时,24 h时效预报的24~48 h 3 h间隔预报场湿螺旋度数量值超过了指标值并持续了2个时次以上,达到了强降水发生的要求;零场预报的0~24 h及12 h时效预报的12~36 h间隔3 h预报场任一时刻湿螺旋度数量值达到了6 h指标判据值,对其后6 h的暴雨落区有较好的指示作用,可作为短时临近预报的业务参考;湿螺旋度订正预报暴雨发生的TS评分远高于ECMWF模式,预报效果好。     

Diagnosis and numerical simulation of a torrential precipitation event in Catalonia (Spain)

Summary A torrential precipitation event occurred in Catalonia (northeastern part of Spain) during 9 and 10 October 1994. More than 400mm were registered in the south of Catalonia. A diagnostic study shows that most of the ingredients to produce heavy rain (large scale upward vertical motion, instability, high moisture content in all the troposphere) were present over the Spanish coast and western Mediterranean. Mesoscale triggering mechanisms have been associated with the orographic forcing, not only through physical lifting of moist air by the coastal mountains, but also by the redistribution of the surface pressure field induced by the Atlas and Pyrenees ranges. A numerical simulation of the event using a meso- model has been performed. The model forecasts qualitatively well the rainfall distribution but underestimates the maximum rainfalls. The effects of the orography and the evaporation from the sea have been also studied. The simulations have shown that the action of the orography is decisive for the rainfall, pressure and wind distrbutions over the Spanish coast and the western Mediterranean. The isolated action of the evaporation turns to be much less important. However the combined effect of orography and evaporation is the most important factor in the areas where the greatest amount of rainfall occurred.With 26 Figures     

Observed and GCM simulated decadal variability of monsoon rainfall in east China

Variability and associated mechanisms of summer rainfall over east China are identified and described using both observations and a general circulation model (GCM) simulation. The observations include two data sets: the 90-station, 1470–1988 annual drought/flood index and the 60-station, 1889–1988 monthly mean precipitation measurements. The GCM data set is a 100-year equilibrium simulation of the present climate. Spectra of the drought/flood index indicate decadal cycles which decrease from north (47 y) to south (21 y). Correlation coefficients show decadal variability in the relationship between index values along the Yangtse River valley and those over northeast and southeast China. Analysis of the measured data confirms this result; for example, the correlation was small during 1889–1918, but significantly negative during 1930–1959. When compared with precipitation measurements, the GCM better simulates monthly means and variances along the Yangtse River valley. Three distinct 30-year periods of interannual variability in summer rainfall are found over this area. During each period, rainfall is negatively correlated with spring surface temperature over a remote region and is identified with variations in a specific component of the east Asian monsoon circulation: (1) when Eurasian temperatures decrease, the thermal contrast across the Mei-Yu front increases and frontal rainfall intensities; (2) lower temperatures over the Sea of Japan/northwest Pacific Ocean are identified with enhanced easterly flow, moisture transport and rainfall; (3) when tropical east Pacific Ocean temperatures decrease, rainfall associated with the low latitude monsoon trough increases. Given that the GCM generates decadal changes in the relationship between the physical mechanisms, the east Asian monsoon and planetary general circulations and east China rainfall, future studies should focus on the predictability of these changes with the use of improved and much longer GCM simulations.     

1998年7月20~21日武汉地区梅雨锋上突发性中-β系统的发生发展分析

1998年7月21日鄂东南地区出现特大暴雨，其中武汉市出现1 h降水量超过88 mm的突发性大暴雨（简称“98.7”大暴雨）。通过诊断分析发现:武汉地区的“98.7”突发性大暴雨是中-β尺度系统强烈发展引起的；在暴雨发生前武汉附近整个对流层大气积聚了大量的水汽，整个层结接近饱和，并且蕴涵着大量对流有效位能（CAPE）；中-β尺度系统形成后停滞少动数小时，使中-β系统区域积累大量的可降水，引起“98.7”突发性强暴雨。     

利用T213物理量“垂叠法”模型制作沙澧河上游关键区面雨量预报

利用沙澧河流域上游关键区2003-2006年6-8月降水资料和同时段T213产品中预报产品,分析了关键区强降水发生前24h T213产品中比湿、相对湿度、水汽通量、水汽通量散度、假相当位温、垂直速度等物理量垂直空间结构特征,并根据不同特征,构建T213物理量"垂叠法"暴雨和大雨预报模型,对沙澧河流域上游关键区分别作大雨以上(面雨量≥20mm)和暴雨以上(面雨量≥40mm)强降水预报。通过检验和试用,该预报模型对2007-2009年6-8月沙澧河流域上游关键区面雨量≥20mm强降水预报准确率平均达54.2%,对面雨量≥40mm强降水预报准确率平均为38.9%。     

Evaluation of WRF-based convection-permitting multi-physics ensemble forecasts over China for an extreme rainfall event on 21 July 2012 in Beijing

On 21 July 2012, an extreme rainfall event that recorded a maximum rainfall amount over 24 hours of 460 mm, occurred in Beijing, China. Most operational models failed to predict such an extreme amount. In this study, a convective-permitting ensemble forecast system (CEFS), at 4-km grid spacing, covering the entire mainland of China, is applied to this extreme rainfall case. CEFS consists of 22 members and uses multiple physics parameterizations. For the event, the predicted maximum is 415 mm d^-1 in the probability-matched ensemble mean. The predicted high-probability heavy rain region is located in southwest Beijing, as was observed. Ensemble-based verification scores are then investigated. For a small verification domain covering Beijing and its surrounding areas, the precipitation rank histogram of CEFS is much flatter than that of a reference global ensemble. CEFS has a lower (higher) Brier score and a higher resolution than the global ensemble for precipitation, indicating more reliable probabilistic forecasting by CEFS. Additionally, forecasts of different ensemble members are compared and discussed. Most of the extreme rainfall comes from convection in the warm sector east of an approaching cold front. A few members of CEFS successfully reproduce such precipitation, and orographic lift of highly moist low-level flows with a significantly southeasterly component is suggested to have played important roles in producing the initial convection. Comparisons between good and bad forecast members indicate a strong sensitivity of the extreme rainfall to the mesoscale environmental conditions, and, to less of an extent, the model physics.     

滁河流域汛期多模式集成面雨量预报检验评估

对2013—2016年汛期ECMWF、JMA及中尺度WRF模式的预报结果进行检验,基于合理的时间尺度,制作了动态权重集成面雨量预报(DWI)、分步集成面雨量预报(SI)和等权重集成面雨量预报(EWI)产品,并对2017—2020年汛期降水期间多种集成面雨量预报产品和ECMWF、JMA、WRF的单个模式面雨量预报产品进行对比评估.结果表明:3种集成面雨量预报效果整体上优于单一数值预报模式,尤其是预报致灾严重的暴雨等级降水优势明显;DWI和WRF对强降水的面雨量预报正确率最高,其他2种集成面雨量预报结果次之,ECMWF及JMA较差;模式集成预报弱降水过程的优势不明显.     

山洪灾损预估方法研究

为了预估四川省的山洪灾害造成的人口和经济影响,本文基于四川省数字高程模型数据(DEM),依据山洪沟的判别标准,提取出全省范围的山洪沟,并结合坡度与降水耦合的关系建立了四川山洪危险性评价模型。以2011年1月~2013年12月发生的21次山洪灾害为样本,利用2013年四川省人口和经济数据,建立了山洪灾害对人口和经济影响的预估模型。结论如下:(1)提取出影响生命财产安全的山洪沟64346条,其主要分布在盆周山区、川西高原和攀西地区,最大影响面积约38万km2,约占全省面积的78%;(2)建立了山洪危险性评估模型,评估结果能客观地预警四川范围内的山洪等级和影响范围;(3)建立了山洪灾害影响预估模型,模型对人口的影响预估结果比较可靠。      

A radar-based verification of precipitation forecast for local convective storms

Local flash flood storms with a rapid hydrological response are a real challenge for quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF). It is relevant to assess space domains, to which the QPF approaches are applicable. In this paper an attempt is made to evaluate the forecasting capability of a high-resolution numerical weather prediction (NWP) model by means of area-related QPF verification. The results presented concern two local convective events, which occurred in the Czech Republic (CR) on 13 and 15 July 2002 and caused local flash floods. We used the LM COSMO model (Lokall Model of the COSMO consortium) adapted to the horizontal resolution of 2.8 km over a model domain covering the CR. The 18 h forecast of convective precipitation was verified by using radar rainfall totals adjusted to the measured rain gauge data. The grid point-related root mean square error (RMSE) value was calculated over a square around the grid point under the assumption that rainfall values were randomly distributed within the square. The forecast accuracy was characterized by the mean RMSE over the whole verification domain. We attempt to show a dependence of both the RMSE field and the mean RMSE on the square size. The importance of a suitable merger between the radar and rain gauge datasets is demonstrated by a comparison between the verification results obtained with and without the gauge adjustment. The application of verification procedure demonstrates uncertainties in the precipitation forecasts. The model was integrated with initial conditions shifted by 0.5° distances. The four verifications, corresponding to the shifts in the four directions, show differences in the resulting QPF, which depend on the size of verification area and on the direction of the shift.     

Analyses of summer lightning activity and precipitation in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean

The lightning activity and precipitation in two 3-hour time intervals in the grid boxes of 0.25 × 0.25° over East and Central Mediterranean during the summer of 2005 and 2006 are analysed. The results show that the frequency distribution of the precipitation amount is shifted towards larger values for the cases with lightning as compared with the cases without lightning. It was found that the number of cases with 3-hour accumulated rainfall greater than 10 mm was bigger when lightning occurred (65%) than when it was absent (35%). Investigation of diurnal and spatial distributions of lightning shows that the afternoon flash density peak is associated mainly with lightning over the land, which is in accordance with the results of earlier works. The early morning flash density peak is associated mainly with flashes over the sea. High correlation coefficients (0.89 during the morning hours and 0.98 during afternoon) were found between rain rate (mm/h) and average flash density (fl/km²) when flash density is averaged in logarithmic intervals of rain rate.     

On Climatic Fluctuations and Environmental Changes of the Indo-Gangetic Plains, India

Paralleling the Southern Himalayan Province, the Indo-GangeticPlains region (IGPR) of India (geographical area 6,00,000 km²) is veryimportant for the food security of South Asia. Due to numerous factors inoperation there is widespread apprehension regarding sustainability offragile ecosystems of the region. Literature provides detailed documentation of environmental changes due to different factors except climatic. The present study is intended to document the instrumental-period fluctuations of important climatic parameters like rainfall amounts (1829–1999), severe rainstorms (1880–1996) and temperature (1876–1997) exclusively for the IGPR. The summer monsoon rainfall over western IGPR shows increasing trend(170 mm/100-yr, significant at 1% level) from 1900 while over central IGPR it shows decreasing trend (5 mm/100-yr, not significant) from 1939 and over eastern IGPR decreasing trend (50 mm/100-yr, not significant) during 1900–1984 and insignificant increasing trend (480 mm/100-yr, not significant) during 1984–1999. Broadly it is inferred that there has been a westward shift in rainfall activities over the IGPR. Analysis suggests westward shift in the occurrence of severe rainstorms also. These spatial changes in rainfall activities are attributed to global warming and associated changes in the Indian summer monsoon circulation and the general atmosphericcirculation. The annual surface air temperature of the IGPR showed rising trend (0.53 ° C/100-yr, significant at 1% level) during 1875–1958 and decreasing trend (–0.93 ° C/100-yr, significant at 5% level) during 1958–1997. The post-1958 period cooling of the IGPR seems to be due to expansion and intensification of agricultural activities and spreading of irrigation network in the region. Lateral shift in the river courses is an environmental hazard of serious concern in the IGPR. In the present study it is suggested that meteorologic factors like strength and direction of low level winds and spatial shift in rainfall/climatic belt also play a significant role along with tectonic disturbances and local sedimentological adjustments in the vagrancy of the river courses over the IGPR.     

条件数在区域日降水量预报中的应用研究

针对前汛期广西北部暴雨洪涝灾害频发的问题，利用T213模式和日本细网格降水预报等数值预报产品，采用条件数计算选取回归因子的方法建立广西北部区域平均降水量的预报方程。进行了2004、2005年两年5-6月的前汛期业务预报应用试验。采用条件数方法建立的预报方程和传统的逐步回归预报方程的平均预报误差分别为6．3569mm和7．0096mm，同期T213模式的预报误差为7．9456mm。试验表明新方法比传统的逐步回归方程和T213模式具有更高的预报精度，有较好的业务应用前景。计算对比可知，采用条件数计算选择的预报因子间的复共线性较微弱，而逐步回归方法选择的因子间的复共线性很严重，影响了回归方程的预报效果。     

Assessment of regional seasonal rainfall predictability using the CPTEC/COLA atmospheric GCM

This is a study of the annual and interannual variability of regional rainfall produced by the Center for Weather Forecasts and Climate Studies/Center for Ocean, Land and Atmospheric Studies (CPTEC/COLA) atmospheric global climate model. An evaluation is made of a 9-member ensemble run of the model forced by observed global sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies for the 10-year period 1982–1991. The Brier skill score and, Relative Operating Characteristics (ROC) are used to assess the predictability of rainfall and to validate rainfall simulations, in several regions world wide. In general, the annual cycle of precipitation is well simulated by the model for several continental and oceanic regions in the tropics and mid latitudes. Interannual variability of rainfall during the peak rainy season is realistically simulated in Northeast Brazil, Amazonia, central Chile, and southern Argentina–Uruguay, Eastern Africa, and tropical Pacific regions, where the model shows good skill. Some regions, such as northwest Peru–Ecuador, and southern Brazil exhibit a realistic simulation of rainfall anomalies associated with extreme El Niño warming conditions, while in years with neutral or La Niña conditions, the agreement between observed and simulated rainfall anomalies is not always present. In the monsoon regions of the world and in southern Africa, even though the model reproduces the annual cycle of rainfall, the skill of the model is low for the simulation of the interannual variability. This is indicative of mechanisms other than the external SST forcing, such as the effect of land–surface moisture and snow feedbacks or the representation of sub-grid scale processes, indicating the important role of factors other than external boundary forcing. The model captures the well-known signatures of rainfall anomalies of El Niño in 1982–83 and 1986–87, indicating its sensitivity to strong external forcing. In normal years, internal climate variability can affect the predictability of climate in some regions, especially in monsoon areas of the world.     

Sounding-derived indices for neural network based short-term thunderstorm and rainfall forecasts

A neural network-based scheme to do a multivariate analysis for forecasting the occurrence and intensity of a meteo event is presented. Many sounding-derived indices are combined together to build a short-term forecast of thunderstorm and rainfall events, in the plain of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (hereafter FVG, NE Italy).For thunderstorm forecasting, sounding, lightning strikes and mesonet station data (rain and wind) from April to November of the years 1995–2002 have been used to train and validate the artificial neural network (hereafter ANN), while the 2003 and 2004 data have been used as an independent test sample. Two kind of ANNs have been developed: the first is a “classification model” ANN and is built for forecasting the thunderstorm occurrence. If this first ANN predicts convective activity, then a second ANN, built as a “regression model”, is used for forecasting the thunderstorm intensity, as defined in a previous article.The classification performances are evaluated with the ROC diagram and some indices derived from the Table of Contingency (like KSS, FAR, Odds Ratio). The regression performances are evaluated using the Mean Square Error and the linear cross correlation coefficient R.A similar approach is applied to the problem of 6 h rainfall forecast in the Friuli Venezia Giulia plain, but in this second case the data cover the period from 1992 to 2004. Also the forecasts of binary events (defined as the occurrence of 5, 20 or 40 mm of maximum rain), made by classification and regression ANN, were compared. Particular emphasis is given to the sounding-derived indices which are chosen in the first places by the predictor forward selection algorithm.     

WRF模式与Topmodel模型在洪水预报中的耦合预报试验研究

基于空间分辨率90 m×90 m的湖北荆门漳河水库数字高程模型（DEM）地形数据,并从2012-2015年选取了20场洪水过程（其中16场用于模拟,4场用于检验）,将华中区域数值天气预报业务模式WRF提供的三重嵌套空间分辨率3 km×3 km、9 km×9 km和27 km×27 km预报降雨与集总式新安江模型以及半分布式水文模型Topmodel耦合进行洪水预报试验。通过对比试验得到以下结论：当流域降雨的时、空分布比较均匀时,集总式新安江模型可以较准确地预报出洪峰流量和峰现时间,而当降雨时、空分布差异较大时,预报误差也会随之增大。基于DEM数据建立的Topmodel模型可以反映不同降雨时、空分布下洪水预报结果的差异,试验结果表明,3 km×3 km和9 km×9 km洪水预报的输出结果比较接近,且在确定性系数和洪峰相对误差上要优于27 km×27 km的洪水预报结果,而在峰现时差的预报上,则是27 km×27 km的洪水预报结果与实测较吻合。通过研究还发现,虽然当流域降雨的时、空分布存在一定差异时,3种空间分辨率的WRF预报降雨均无法预报出与实测一致的降雨分布,但是在某些情况下,当降雨的时间分布误差和空间分布误差相抵消时,仍然可以得到较为准确的洪水预报结果。因此,高时、空分辨率的模式预报降雨并不一定就能对洪水预报结果产生正贡献,需要通过反复尝试寻找水文模型和数值模式耦合的最佳时、空分辨率。     

Early Flood Warning for Linyi Watershed by the GRAPES/XXT Model Using TIGGE Data

Early and effective flood warning is essential for reducing loss of life and economic damage.Three global ensemble weather prediction systems of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA),the Europe...     

广东“18.8”季风槽极端降水事件对流尺度集合预报分析

受季风槽影响,2018年8月30—31日华南地区出现一次极端暴雨过程,单日站点累计降水量达1?056.7 mm,刷新了广东有历史纪录以来新的极值。对于此次极端降水事件,常用的业务模式包括欧洲中期天气预报中心全球模式（ECMWF）、日本气象厅谱模式（JMA）和中国气象局广东快速更新同化数值预报系统（CMA-GD）,都低估了降水强度。利用深圳市气象局业务对流尺度集合预报系统分析了此次特大暴雨过程,结果表明：对流尺度集合预报系统对本次特大暴雨过程具有比较好的预报能力,概率匹配平均最大雨量达348.7 mm·(24 h)-1,集合平均的强降水中心和观测基本一致,观测极值附近区域发生大暴雨（≥150 mm）概率最大值达到80%。选取了较“好”和较“差”集合成员预报进行对比分析,发现较“好”成员预报的强降水中心位置和观测基本一致,而较“差”成员预报的降水中心位置则偏向福建地区。较 “好”成员预报出莲花山南侧地面中尺度辐合线较长时间的维持和缓慢移动,导致强降水雨团在莲花山脉附近不断地触发和维持,同时地形的阻挡作用使得对流系统在地形附近区域持续维持,造成了罕见的特大暴雨;而较“差”成员辐合区位于莲花山以北,对流形成后向东、向北移动,最终导致强降水预报位置偏向福建地区。     

应用WRF模式对江西一次暴雨过程的模拟分析

利用新一代数值预报模式WRF耦合RUC、NOAH两个陆面过程,对2006年4月11-12日发生在江西境内的一次暴雨过程进行模拟,并对模式输出的水文平衡和能量,尤其是土壤湿度、地表径流、土壤温度等的变化进行了分析.结果显示,WRF模式耦合两个陆面过程均能模拟出此次暴雨过程的降水空间、时间分布和强度,而WRF-RUC提供了...