Climatology of Winter Extratropical Cyclones over the Coastal Waters of China

Authors

  • Naru Xie Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Meng Gao Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China
  • Zhiqiang Gao Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/jasr.v2i2.919

Abstract

The East China coast is one major cyclogenesis region of extratropical cyclones (ETCs) in boreal winter. In this study, the climatological characteristics of winter ETCs passing over the coastal water of China are analyzed by using clustering and composite analysis. Automated cyclone detection and tracking algorithm are used to identify the ETCs, which are further classified into subgroups according to their trajectory features by using the probabilistic clustering algorithm. Six distinct types of straight moving or recurving trajectories with different climatological characteristics are identified in the clustering analysis. Accordingly, the composite analyses also present six distinct synoptic patterns corresponding to cyclogenesis as well as the impact of ETCs on terrestrial precipitation. The spatio-temporal characteristics of winter ETCs’ origination, movement, and impact are revealed by the clustering and composite analyses.

Keywords:

Extratropical cyclones; Atmospheric circulation; Cluster analysis; Precipitation

References

[1] Zhang, Y.C.; Rossow, W.B.. Estimating meridional energy transports by the atmospheric and oceanic general circulations using boundary fluxes. J. Clim., 1997, 10: 2358–2373.

[2] Chang, E.K.M.; Lee, S.; Swanson, K.L.. Storm track dynamics. J. Clim., 2002, 15: 2163–2183.

[3] Ulbrich, U.; Leckebusch, G.C.; Pinto, J.G.. Extra-tropical cyclones in the present and future climate: a review. Theor. Appl. Climatol., 2009, 96: 117–131.

[4] Catto, J.L.. Extratropical cyclone classification and its use in climate studies. Rev. Geophys., 2016, 54: 486–520.

[5] Hawcroft, M.K.; Shaffrey, L.C.; Hodges, K.I.; Dacre, H.F.. How much Northern Hemisphere precipitation is associated with extratropical cyclones? Geophs. Res Lett., 2012, 39: L24809.

[6] Wang, X.L.; Feng, Y.; Chan, R.; Isaac, V.. Inter-comparison of extra-tropical cyclone activity in nine reanalysis datasets. Atmos. Res., 2016, 181: 133–153.

[7] Wang, X.L.; Feng, Y.; Compo, G.P.; Swail, V.R.; Zwiers, F.W.; Allan, R.J.; Sardeshmukh, P.D.. Trends and low frequency variability of extra-tropical cyclone activity in the ensemble of twentieth century reanalysis. Clim. Dyn., 2013, 40: 2775–2800.

[8] Wang, X.L.; Swail, V.R.; Zwiers, F.W.. Climatology and changes of extratropical cyclone activity: comparison of ERA-40 with NCEP–NCAR reanalysis for 1958–2001. J. Clim., 2006, 19: 3145–3166.

[9] Yoshida, A.; Asuma, Y.. Structures and environment of explosively developing extratropical cyclones in the northwestern Pacific region. Mon. Weather Rev., 2004, 132: 1121–1142.

[10] Sinclair, M.R.. Objective Identification of Cyclones and Their Circulation Intensity, and Climatology. Weather Forecast., 1997, 12: 595–612.

[11] Reitan, C.H.. Frequencies of cyclones and cyclogenesis for North America, 1951–1970. Mon. Wea. Rev., 1974, 102: 861–868.

[12] Zishka, K.M.; Smith, P.J.. The climateology of cyclones and anticyclones over North America and surrounding ocean environs for January and July, 1950–1977. Mon. Wea. Rev., 1980, 108: 387–401.

[13] Lambert, S. J.. A cyclone climatology of the Canadian climate centre general circulation model. J. Clim., 1988, 1: 109–115.

[14] Hodges, K.I.. A general method for tracking analysis and its application to meteorological data. Mon. Wea. Rev., 1994, 122: 2573–2586.

[15] Haak, U.; Ulbrich, U.. Verification of an objective cyclone climatology for the North Atlantic. Meteor. Z., 1996, 5: 24–30.

[16] Pinto, J.G.; Spangehl, T.; Ulbrich U., et al.. Sensitivities of a cyclone detection and tracking algorithm: Individual tracks and climatology. Meteor. Z., 2005, 14: 823–838.

[17] Flaounas, E.; Kotroni, V.;, Lagouvardos, K.; Flaounas, I.. CycloTRACK (v1.0) – tracking winter extratropical cyclones based on relative vorticity: sensitivity to data filtering and other relevant parameters. Geosci. Model Dev., 2014, 7: 1841–1853

[18] Gaffney, S.J.; Robertson, A.W.; Smyth, P.; Camargo, S.J.; Ghil, M.. Probabilistic clustering of extratropical cyclones using regression mixture models. Clim. Dyn., 2007, 29: 423–440.

[19] Yang, F.; Wu, G.; Du, Y.; Zhao, X.. Trajectory data mining via cluster analyses for tropical cyclones that affect the South China Sea. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf., 2017, 6: 210.

[20] Camargo, S.J.; Robertson, A.W.; Gaffney, S.J.; Smyth, P.; Ghil, M.. Cluster analysis of typhoon tracks. Part I: general properties. J. Clim., 2007, 20: 3635–3653.

[21] Catalano, A.J.; Broccoli, A.J.. Synoptic Characteristics of surge-producing extratropical cyclones along the Northeast Coast of the United States. J. Appl. Meteor. Climatol., 2018, 57: 171-184.

[22] Chen, S.J.; Kuo, Y.H.; Zhang, P.Z.; Bai, Q.F.. Climatology of explosive cyclones off the east Asian coast. Mon. Weather Rev., 1992, 120: 3029–3035.

[23] Zhang, J.; Xu, H.; Ma, J.; Deng, J.. Interannual variability of spring extratropical cyclones over the Yellow, Bohai, and East China Seas and possible causes. Atmosphere, 2019, 10: 40.

[24] Yao, S.; Zhang, Y.; Zhou, T.. Climatic characteristics of extratropical cyclone frequency and its variations over East Asia during recent 50 years in spring. J. Nanjing Institute of Meteorology, 2003, 26: 317–323. (in Chinese with English Abstract)

[25] Qin, T.;Wei, L.X.. The statistic and variance of cyclones entering coastal waters of China in 1979-2012. Chin. Acta Oceanol. Sin., 2015, 37: 43–52.

[26] Zhang, Y.X.; Ding, Y.H.; Li, Q.P.. A climatology of extratropical cyclones over East Asia during 1958–2001. Acta Oceanol. Sin., 2012, 26(3): 261–277.

[27] Dee, D.P.; Uppala, S.M.; Simmons, A.J.; Berrisford, P.; Poli, P.; Kobayashi, S.; Andrae, U.; Balmaseda, M.A.; Balsamo, G.; Bauer, P.; et al.. The ERA-Interim reanalysis: configuration and performance of the data assimilation system. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 2011, 137: 553–597.

[28] Loikith, P.C.; Lintner, B.R.; Sweeney, A.. Characterizing large-scale meteorological patterns and associated temperature and precipitation extremes over the northwestern United States using self-organizing maps. J. Clim., 2017, 30: 2829-2847.

[29] Wang, X.; Zhai, P.; Wang, C.. Variations in extratropical cyclone activity in northern East Asia. Adv. Atmos. Sci., 2009, 26(3): 471–479.

[30] Zhu, Q.; Lin, J.; Shou, S.; et al.. Principles of Synoptic Meteorology. China Meteorological Press: Beijing, China, 2000: 133–143. (in Chinese)

[31] Sanders, F.; Gyakum, J.R.. Synoptic-dynamic climatology of the “Bomb”. Mon. Weather Rev., 1980, 108: 1589–1606.

[32] Hodges, K.I.; Hoskins, B.J.; Boyle, J.; Thorncroft, C.. A comparison of recent reanalysis datasets using objective feature tracking: Storm tracks and tropical easterly waves. Mon. Wea. Rev., 2003, 131: 2012–2037.

[33] Rudeva, I.; Gulev, S.K.. Composite analysis of North Atlantic extratropical cyclones in NCEP–NCAR reanalysis Data. Mon. Wea. Rev., 2011, 139: 1419–1446.

[34] Simmons, A.J.; Hoskins ,B.J.. The life cycles of some nonlinear baroclinic waves. J. Atmos. Sci., 1978, 35: 414-432.

Downloads

How to Cite

Xie, N., Gao, M., & Gao, Z. (2019). Climatology of Winter Extratropical Cyclones over the Coastal Waters of China. Journal of Atmospheric Science Research, 2(2), 37–45. https://doi.org/10.30564/jasr.v2i2.919

Issue

Vol. 2 , Iss. 2 (April 2019)

Article Type

Article
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC