Characteristics and Causes of Extreme Heavy Rainfall in Heilongjiang Province During August 2023

Qi Duo; Wang Chengwei; Bai Xuemei; Gong Yanduo; Sun Qi; Luan Chen; Tang Kai; Zhao Yujie

doi:10.11898/1001-7313.20240301

Vol.35, NO.3, 2024

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Article Navigation > Journal of Applied Meteorological Science > 2024 > 35(3): 257-271

Qi Duo, Wang Chengwei, Bai Xuemei, et al. Characteristics and causes of extreme heavy rainfall in Heilongjiang Province during August 2023. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2024, 35(3): 257-271. DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20240301.

Citation:

Qi Duo, Wang Chengwei, Bai Xuemei, et al. Characteristics and causes of extreme heavy rainfall in Heilongjiang Province during August 2023. J Appl Meteor Sci, 2024, 35(3): 257-271. DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20240301.

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Characteristics and Causes of Extreme Heavy Rainfall in Heilongjiang Province During August 2023

DOI: 10.11898/1001-7313.20240301

1.
Heilongjiang Meteorological Observatory, Harbin 150030
2.
Daxing'anling Meteorological Office of Heilongjiang Province, Jiagedaqi 165000

Received Date: 2024-01-11
Rev Recd Date: 2024-03-26
Publish Date: 2024-05-31

Abstract

Abstract

From 2 August to 4 August in 2023, a prolonged and extensive extreme heavy rainfall event occurrs in the southeast of Heilongjiang Province. Utilizing multiple observations and ERA5 reanalysis data, characteristics of the precipitation process are analyzed focusing on large-scale circulation background, mesoscale circulation system evolution, environmental conditions from perspectives of climate statistics, weather analysis, and physical quantity diagnosis. Factors contributing to the prolonged extreme heavy rainfall event are explored. Main causes for the long duration of this heavy precipitation event are the stable maintenance of favorable large-scale conditions, such as the persistent divergence of the upper troposphere, the stable location of the west Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) and Northeast China cold vortex (NCCV), and continuous water vapor transport by the southwest jet. Due to the strong southwest jet, there is abundant moisture transfer, primarily through the advection of water vapor, which is the primary source for heavy rainfall. The process can be divided into two stages due to significant differences of rainfall, atmospheric stratification, and local circulation characteristics. In the first stage, the meridional water vapor inflow layer and the saturated layer are thick, resulting in high tropospheric humidity. The atmospheric condition is characterized by weak convective instability. Under the control of the northwest airflow at 500 hPa, the development of southwest jet, along with the influence of a weak eastward-moving vortex system at 850 hPa, results in horizontal wind speed convergence and systematic upward motion, leading to widespread and prolonged precipitation. The heavy rainfall area is mainly composed of cumulus embedded stratus, with a large coverage area of the cloud system, low echo centroid height, and high precipitation efficiency. With weak convective instability that promotes the development of convection and train effect in some periods, extreme hourly precipitation and large cumulative precipitation occur. In the second stage, the meridional water vapor inflow is concentrated in the lower troposphere with high intensity. The lower troposphere is close to saturation, with high humidity and temperature, while the middle and upper troposphere is dry and cold, and the atmospheric condition is more unstable than that in the first stage. Convection is developed and strengthened by the combined action of systematic uplift by a trough at 500 hPa, warm shear at 850 hPa, topographic convergence, and uplift. The cloud system is dominated by local strong cumulus clouds, and the distribution of precipitation intensity is uneven. At the beginning of this stage, convective cells continue to form at the trumpet-shaped terrain and move towards the eastern mountainous areas, organizing into linear convection. This is accompanied by the development and southward movement of surface convergence lines, leading to the generation of new convection and continuously causing localized intense short-duration rainfall.
- extreme heavy rainfall;
- southwest jet;
- train effect;
- orographic effect

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References(49)

Figures and Tables

Fig. 1 Accumulated precipitation of regional rain gauge stations from 0200 BT 2 Aug to 2000 BT 4 Aug in 2023 (unit:mm, the black dashed rectangular denotes the big-value area of precipitation)

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Fig. 2 Hourly average precipitation and heavy rainfall ratio in the big-value area (rain gauge stations in the black dashed rectangular in Fig. 1) from 0200 BT 2 Aug to 2000 BT 4 Aug in 2023

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Fig. 3 500 hPa geopotential height (the blue contour, the bold line is 5880 gpm, the interval is 40 gpm), 300 hPa wind (the red barb), 300 hPa divergence (the shaded) from 2 Aug to 4 Aug in 2023 (the black rectangular denotes the big-value area of precipitation, similarly hereinafter)

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Fig. 4 850 hPa geopotential height (the black contour, the bold line is 1500 gpm, the interval is 20 gpm), wind (blue and cyan vectors denote wind speeds no less than 12 m·s^-1 and less than 12 m·s^-1, respectively), specific humidity (the red isoline, unit:g·kg^-1) from 2 Aug to 4 Aug in 2023

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Fig. 5 Vertical cross-sections of water vapor (the shaded) meridional and zonal budget over the big-value area of precipitation (the grey denotes terrain) from 2 Aug to 4 Aug in 2023

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Fig. 6 Longitude-height cross section average between 43.5°-45.5°N from 2 Aug to 4 Aug in 2023 (the shaded denotes pseudo-equivalent potential temperature, the vector denotes the composite wind field from zonal wind and vertical wind(to expand 20 times), the blue dashed isoline denotes vertical velocity (starting from -0.3 Pa·s^-1 with interval of -0.3 Pa·s^-1), the grey denotes terrain)

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Fig. 7 Height-time distribution of averaged pseudo-equivalent potential temperature (the shaded), vertical velocity (the isoline, unit:Pa·s^-1), 0℃ level (the green dash line) (a) and time series of mean intensity, number of rainfall stations(b) in 44.5°-45.5°N, 126°-128°E from 2 Aug to 4 Aug in 2023

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Fig. 8 FY-4A TBB images from 2 Aug to 3 Aug in 2023 (black dots from left to right denote stations of Changfa, Linhe, Longfengshan and Zhenzhushan)

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Fig. 9 Distributions of surface disturbed potential temperature (the colored dot, unit:K) and wind (the vector, unit:m·s^-1) in heavy rainfall area at the beginning of stage-Ⅱ (the shaded denotes terrain, the red line and the blue circle denote convergence line and strong echo areas greater than 35 dBZ, respectively)

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Table 1 Historical ranking of county observational stations in the big-value area of precipitation in 1961-2023

站名	排序Ⅰ	排序Ⅱ	排序Ⅲ	2023年8月2—4日累积降水量/mm	过程降水量占8月平均降水量比例/%
哈尔滨	11	1	22	80.7	71.2
双城	7	1	5	128.9	118.4
阿城	4	1	1	143.2	124.6
宾县	72	3	27	81.8	67.0
木兰		6		20.6	15.9
通河		11		12.5	9.7
延寿		6		49.2	37.4
尚志	2	1	2	154.7	107.7
扶余	66	1	13	106.0	95.8
榆树		1	23	84.7	70.6
舒兰	60	1	5	127.3	89.2
五常	2	1	1	270.7	202.5
牡丹江	6	1	5	112.8	95.3
宁安	1	1	1	159.6	137.5
吉林城郊		6		36.8	27.0
蛟河		9		38.5	26.2

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