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Mid-level stratiform precipitations during the passage of warm fronts were detailedly observed on two occasions (light and moderate rain) by a 355 nm polarization lidar and water vapor Raman lidar, both equipped with waterproof transparent roof windows. The hours-long precipitation streaks shown in the lidar signal (X) and volume depolarization ratio (δv) reveal some ubiquitous features of the microphysical process of precipitating hydrometeors. We find that for the light-rain case precipitation that reaches the surface begins as ice-phase-dominant hydrometeors that fall out of a shallow liquid cloud layer at altitudes above the 0 ∘C isotherm level, and the depolarization ratio magnitude of falling hydrometeors increases from the liquid-water values (δv) to the ice/snow values (δv>0.20) during the first 100–200 m of their descent. Subsequently, the falling hydrometeors yield a dense layer with an ice/snow bright band occurring above and a liquid-water bright band occurring below (separated by a lidar dark band) as a result of crossing the 0 ∘C level. The ice/snow bright band might be a manifestation of local hydrometeor accumulation. Most falling raindrops shrink or vanish in the liquid-water bright band due to evaporation, whereas a few large raindrops fall out of the layer. We also find that a prominent δv peak (0.10–0.40) always occurs at an altitude of approximately 0.6 km when precipitation reaches the surface, reflecting the collision–coalescence growth of falling large raindrops and their subsequent spontaneous breakup. The microphysical process (at ice-bright-band altitudes and below) of moderate rain resembles that of the light-rain case, but more large-sized hydrometeors are involved.

We explore the decoupling physics of a stratocumulus-topped boundary layer (STBL) moving over cooler water, a situation mimicking warm-air advection (WADV). We simulate an initially well-mixed STBL over a doubly periodic domain with the sea surface temperature decreasing linearly over time using the System for Atmospheric Modeling large-eddy model. Due to the surface cooling, the STBL becomes increasingly stably stratified, manifested as a near-surface temperature inversion topped by a well-mixed cloud-containing layer. Unlike the stably stratified STBL in cold-air advection (CADV) that is characterized by cumulus coupling, the stratocumulus deck in the WADV is unambiguously decoupled from the sea surface, manifested as weakly negative buoyancy flux throughout the subcloud layer. Without the influxes of buoyancy from the surface, the convective circulation in the well-mixed cloud-containing layer is driven by cloud-top radiative cooling. In such a regime, the downdrafts propel the circulation, in contrast to that in CADV regime for which the cumulus updrafts play a more determinant role. Such a contrast in convection regime explains the difference in many aspects of the STBLs including the entrainment rate, cloud homogeneity, vertical exchanges of heat and moisture, and lifetime of the stratocumulus deck, with the last being subject to a more thorough investigation in Part II. Finally, we investigate under what conditions a secondary stratus near the surface (or fog) can form in the WADV. We found that weaker subsidence favors the formation of fog whereas a more rapid surface cooling rate does not. Significant Statement The low-lying blanketlike clouds, called stratocumulus (Sc), reflect much incoming sunlight, substantially modulating Earth’s temperature. While much is known about how the Sc evolves when it moves over warmer water, few studies examine the opposite situation of Sc moving over colder water. We used a high-resolution numerical model to simulate such a case. When moving over cold water, the Sc becomes unambiguously decoupled from the water surface, distinctive from its warm counterpart in which the Sc interacts with the water surface via intermittent cauliflower-like clouds called cumulus clouds. Such decoupling influences many aspects of the Sc–sea surface system, which combine to alter the ability of the Sc to reflect sunlight, thereby influencing the climate. This work laid the foundation for future work that quantifies the contribution of such a decoupled Sc regime to Earth’s radiative budget and climate change.

The paper examines the influence of the main mode of interannual variability of the North Atlantic climate system—the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)—on the hydrophysical and hydrometeorological characteristics of the Nordic seas. A new scheme of the ocean–atmosphere interaction in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic Basin is proposed. In the positive NAO phase, the amount of Atlantic water inflow through the Faroe–Shetland Channel into the Norwegian Sea decreases, as well as the specific heat transfer to the atmosphere. Cyclonic activity becomes more active over the marginal seas of the Eurasian shelf in winter in the positive NAO phase. Cyclone trajectories are displaced to the north, which contributes to advection of warm air to the water area of the Nordic seas, and in the Barents Sea region, the frequency of southerly winds increases. The water temperature in the Nordcape Current in this period rises, and the ice extent of the Barents Sea decreases. The processes in the ocean–atmosphere–ice system in the Western Arctic in the negative NAO phase occur in the opposite direction. These conclusions were obtained for a time interval characterized by negative values of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO index). During the positive phase of the AMO, which began to prevail in the 2000s, the processes in the ocean–atmosphere–ice system of the Barents Sea apparently occurred mainly under the influence of advection of Atlantic water with elevated temperatures.

As a result of climate warming, glacial meltwater discharge has been increasing in Greenland. During the summers of 2015 and 2016, there were rapid increases in discharge from Qaanaaq Glacier in northwestern Greenland. These discharges resulted in floods that destroyed the road linking the settlement of Qaanaaq to Qaanaaq Airport. Field measurements were performed and a numerical model of glacier runoff was developed to quantify these discharges. The high discharge associated with the 2015 flood, estimated at 9.1 m3 s−1 (hourly mean), resulted from intensive glacier melting due to warm air temperature and strong winds, while the high discharge associated with the 2016 flood resulted from heavy rainfall (90 mm d−1) that led to a peak discharge estimated at 19.9 m3 s−1. The developed model, when used to investigate future glacier runoff under warming conditions, revealed a nonlinear increase in glacial melt with increasing temperature. Additionally, the model forecasted a threefold increase in total summer discharge, owing to a 4 °C rise in temperature. Thus, this study quantified the impact of a changing climate on glacier runoff, which gives insight into future risks of flood hazards along the coast of Greenland.

Polar lows are intense mesoscale cyclones that develop in polar marine air masses. Motivated by the large variety of their proposed intensification mechanisms, cloud structure, and ambient sub-synoptic environment, we use self-organising maps to classify polar lows. The method is applied to 370 polar lows in the north-eastern Atlantic, which were obtained by matching mesoscale cyclones from the ERA-5 reanalysis to polar lows registered in the STARS dataset by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. ERA-5 reproduces most of the STARS polar lows. We identify five different polar-low configurations which are characterised by the vertical wind shear vector, the change in the horizontal-wind vector with height, relative to the propagation direction. Four categories feature a strong shear with different orientations of the shear vector, whereas the fifth category contains conditions with weak shear. This confirms the relevance of a previously identified categorisation into forward- and reverse-shear polar lows. We expand the categorisation with right- and left-shear polar lows that propagate towards colder and warmer environments, respectively. For the strong-shear categories, the shear vector organises the moist-baroclinic dynamics of the systems. This is apparent in the low-pressure anomaly tilting with height against the shear vector and the main updrafts occurring along the warm front located in the forward-left direction relative to the shear vector. These main updrafts contribute to the intensification through latent heat release and are typically associated with comma-shaped clouds. Polar-low situations with a weak shear, which often feature spirali-form clouds, occur mainly at decaying stages of the development. We thus find no evidence for hurricane-like intensification of polar lows and propose instead that spirali-form clouds are associated with a warm seclusion process.

Observations from the 2014 Arctic Clouds in Summer Experiment indicate that, in summer, warm-air advection over melting sea-ice results in a strong surface melting feedback forced by a very strong surface-based temperature inversion and fog formation exerting additional heat flux on the surface. Here, we analyze this case further using a combination of reanalysis dataset and satellite products in a Lagrangian framework, thereby extending the view spatially from the local icebreaker observations into a Langrangian perspective. The results confirm that warm-air advection induces a positive net surface-energy-budget anomaly, exerting positive longwave radiation and turbulent heat flux on the surface. Additionally, as warm and moist air penetrates farther into the Arctic, cloud-top cooling and surface mixing eventually erode the surface inversion downstream. The initial surface inversion splits into two elevated inversions while the air columns below the elevated inversions transform into well-mixed layers.

Summary Data from MERIS onboard Envisat and MODIS onboard Terra and Aqua for 15–16 May 2010 were used to study powerful imprints of atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) on the western part the Black Sea surface. Two cold fronts crossed the sea following the warm front and caused the AGWs which modulated the sea surface. Imprints of AGWs appeared as stripes of alternating brightness, they had crest length more than a hundred kilometers and wavelength of units of kilometers. Wave amplitude of AGWs imprints, evaluated by a 90%-depth of light penetration into the sea at 490 nm z90, the value inverse to the diffuse attenuation coefficient Kd_490, was units of decimeterxs. MODIS 250-m data of remote sensing reflectance, wind components and atmospheric pressure near the sea surface were obtained by processing the top of atmosphere data with the SeaDAS software package. Negative correlations of fluctuations of z90 with fluctuations of wind stress and atmospheric pressure were found on the transects of more than ten kilometers. The impact of wind stress on the origination of AGW imprints was found to be determinant, while the impact of atmospheric pressure was not more than units of percent.

Warm-sector rainfall (WSR) occurs, by definition, in a warm-air region that is isolated from any forcing related to synoptic frontal boundaries at the surface. This study explores the use of an object-oriented technique to objectively and automatically identify various WSR events over North China from June to September in 2012–17. A total of 768 substantive events are identified over the 6 years. They have a mean maximum rainfall accumulation of 35 mm h−1. Most such events occur over the plains, with two-frequency maxima: one to the south of the Yanshan Mountain Ranges, and the other near the junction of Henan, Shandong, and Jiangsu provinces. WSR-related rainstorms can form in all warm-season months but are most commonly observed between mid-July and mid-August (40% of all events occurred then). Geographically, the region at greatest risk moves gradually northward from mid-June to mid-August, consistent with the progression of the East Asian summer monsoon. There are two diurnal peaks in WSR activity, one from late afternoon to early evening and the other from late evening to early morning. Three classes of upper-level synoptic pattern seem to be conducive to WSR: (i) a “Mongolia front pattern,” (ii) a “northern China front pattern,” and (iii) a “southern front pattern.” All of these patterns are accompanied by warm and moist southwesterly flow at low levels. Prior to WSR events, there is usually an upper-level trough. According to other studies, such a feature is not usually seen for WSR events in South China.

Hurricane Michael was intensifying as it made landfall devastating areas of the Florida Panhandle including the small town of Mexico Beach. The structure of the hurricane is examined using radar wind data made available from aircraft reconnaissance missions. This showed a dominant warm air advection configuration (winds turning in direction in an anticyclonic fashion with height) around the core of the hurricane. Conventional radiosonde data was also used to study the warm air advection environment east of a deep layered tough system which Michael moved into and which appeared to favour such strong intensification. The structure of this deep trough is also examined and compared with a situation where Hurricane Dennis in 2005 weakened as it approached the coast in much the same region. It appears that the thermal structure of the upper trough at low to middle levels is critical to whether the hurricane intensifies or weakens with the presence of strong cold air advection associated with weakening. Keywords: intensification, warm air advection, cold air advection, upper outflow, deep trough

In the warm summer of 2017, a landslide failed from the south-east side of the Col des Clochettes on the top of the underlying Trajo Glacier. The study area is at an elevation of about 3500 m a.s.l. in the Gran Paradiso Massif and can be hardly reached by walking from Cogne (Aosta Valley, NW Italy). Studies conducted by field surveys, photogrammetry (structure from motion) and satellite images analysis, integrated with the evaluation of data from meteorological stations have been used to reconstruct the phenomenon and infer its causes. The site is very complex to be studied especially due to logistic problems, therefore, measurements and observations that are common practice in other landslides are very difficult to apply here. So, many of the results achieved are not adequately supported by field studies. Anyway, the following factors could have affected the stability of the slope: i) the tectonic structure of the area, which is reflected on the morphology and on the geomechanics characteristics of the rock masses; ii) the meteorological conditions during 3 months before the main failure, resulting in an extremely high temperature compared to historical data. Moreover, the analysis of multitemporal satellite images allowed to recognize that it was not a single landslide but that the phenomenon is articulated over time in at least five failures in about 2 months. Moreover, several predisposing factors may have been playing an important role in causing the instability: the degradation of permafrost (probably affecting rock mass due to the circulation of warm air and water in the discontinuity systems), the alternance of the freeze-thaw cycles and the availability of a considerable amount of water from rainfalls and nival fusion infiltrating deeply in the rock mass. More common causes such as rains and earthquakes have been excluded.

This study investigates the dynamics of the development phases of a Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone (medicane) in the southern Ionian Sea, on 28 September 2018 that caused high impact phenomena in the central and eastern Mediterranean, focusing on the transition from explosive cyclone to medicane. The symmetry and the warm core structure of the system have been demonstrated via phase space diagrams determining three phases of the system development that are then supported on a dynamical basis. During the first phase of the system, baroclinic instability triggered the formation of the explosive cyclone, when strong upper-level PV anomalies at the dynamic tropopause level moved towards a pre-existed area of enhanced low-level baroclinicity over the coastal areas of Libya along with positive SST anomalies. The surface frontal structure was enhanced under the influence of the upper-level dynamic processes. During the second phase when the medicane formed, low-level diabatic processes determined the evolution of the surface cyclone, without any significant support from baroclinic processes in the upper troposphere. The distortion of the low-level baroclinicity and the frontal structure began after the initial weakening of the upper-level dynamics. During the third phase, the system remained barotropic, being affected by similar mechanisms as in the second phase but with lower intensity. The transition mechanism is not only the result of the seclusion of warm air in the cyclone core but, mainly, the continuation of an explosive cyclone or an intense cyclone when the occlusion began to form.

This article reviews synoptic extratropical cyclone research starting from the skilfully constructed conceptual diagrams of the Bergen school in the 1920s. Careful analysis of multiple surface observations allowed Norwegian scientists to deduce the existence of cold and warm fronts and to characterise a complete cyclone lifecycle. Since then, new observing systems and advances in computational capabilities have enabled scientific research which has greatly expanded and enriched our knowledge of extratropical cyclone structure and evolution.

High-resolution numerical simulation results of a squall line initiated along a convergence zone in northeast China on 26 June 2014 were presented in this study. The simulation was performed by a convection-permitting model with coarse and fine grids of 4 and 1.33 km, respectively, and the simulation results were validated against the observation. Results showed that the simulation adequately reproduced the life cycle of the squall line, which allowed detailed investigation of the mechanism of convective initiation in this case. The synoptic condition was favorable for convective initiation and the convection was triggered in a convergence zone, where a branch of dry and cold air and a branch of moist and warm air collided. The water vapor flux divergence was inhomogeneous and some cores of water vapor convergence existed in the convergence zone. These cores were the spots where water vapor converged intensely and the air there was forced to rise, creating favorable spots where the convection was initially triggered. A series of quasi-equally spaced vortices near the surface, which themselves were the result of horizontal shear instability, were accountable for the inhomogeneity of the surface water vapor flux divergence. These vortices rotated the moist air into their north and dry air into their south, thus creating more favorable spots for convective initiation in their north. After initiation, the updraft turned the horizontal vorticity into vertical vorticity in the mid-level. The vortices near the surface collaborated with the vorticity maxima in the mid-level and enhanced the development of convection by providing water vapor.

Over the tropical oceans, the large-scale, meridional circulation drives the accumulation of moist and warm air, leading to a relatively narrow, convectively active band. Therein, deep moist convection interacts with its heterogeneous environment—the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)—and organizes into multiscale structures that strongly impact Earth’s hydrological cycle and radiation budget. Understanding the spatial correlations and interactions among deep convective clouds is important, but challenging. These clouds are investigated in this study with the help of large-domain, storm-resolving simulations over the tropical Atlantic. Based on vertically integrated mass flux fields, deep convective updraft cells are identified with object-based techniques and analyzed with respect to their structural behavior and spatial arrangement. The pair-correlation method, which compares simulated pair numbers as a function of pair distance to an appropriately chosen reference, is applied and extended to allow for spatial statistics in a heterogeneous environment (i.e., the ITCZ). Based on pair-correlation analysis, the average probability is enhanced to find an updraft cell pair within 100 km compared to a random distribution. Additionally, the spatial arrangement of larger or stronger cells deviates more from randomness compared to smaller or weaker cells, which might be related to their stronger dynamical interaction mechanisms. Using simplified equilibrium statistics of interacting cells, several spatial characteristics of the storm-resolving simulations can be reproduced.

The interdecadal variations in extratropical anticyclone activity over East Asia during the winters of 1958–2013 were analysed using an objective identification and tracking algorithm for anticyclones. The influence of the interdecadal variation in anticyclone activity over the Mongolian Plateau on the interdecadal variation in East Asian surface air temperature and its possible mechanism was studied. The results showed that the Mongolian Plateau is the key region of anticyclonic activity in East Asia, and the occurrence frequency of anticyclones presented significantly opposite distribution forms in the higher and lower latitudes. An abrupt change in anticyclone activity over the Mongolian Plateau occurred in the late 1970s. From 1958 to the late 1970s, the main anticyclone activity occurred farther northward, whereas the activity was farther southward from the 1980s to 2013. Further study showed that in the period when the anticyclone occurrence frequency in the higher latitudes north of 50°N was lower (higher), while that in the lower latitudes south of 50°N was higher (lower), the surface air temperature of most parts of East Asia, especially the middle and high latitudes, was abnormally high (low). This was due to the anticyclonic activities, the Siberian high faded in the northwest part and expanded in southeast, while the East Asia trough and Ural Mountain blocking high weakened. This was also manifested as the variation in the geopotential height tendency forcing by transient waves. As the anticyclonic wave-breaking intensifies from western Mongolia to Northeast China, the high-frequency momentum flux over this area was significantly enhanced, strengthening the west wind in the higher latitudes from the north side and weakening the west wind in the middle latitudes from the south side. Under the combined force of the above activity, the southward movement of polar cold air was weakened, and the warm air in the middle and low latitudes was more easily transported to the north, resulting in warmer surface air temperatures over most parts of East Asia.

The results of recording of internal gravity waves (IGWs) and infrasound waves from the warm and cold fronts associated with the atmospheric storm passing through Moscow on May 29, 2017 are presented. The waves were recorded by a network of 4 microbarographs IFA–MGU–MSR–ZNS located in Moscow and Moscow region, and compared with the data of measurements of the parameters of infrasound waves at infrasound station IS43 in Dubna. We study the temporal changes in the characteristics of IGWs and infrasound waves (coherence, direction of propagation,phase velocities, characteristic periods and frequency spectra) with the passage of warm and cold fronts through the network. The transition from the gravity to the acoustic dispersive branch of acoustic-gravity waves due to an increase in frequency and the temporal modulation of the phase velocity of infrasound waves caused by IGWs are also studied. The measurement data for PM10 aerosol concentrations and NO2 gas concentrations at various locations in Moscow during a passage of atmospheric storm are presented. The possibility of detecting wave precursors of atmospheric storms simultaneously in variations of atmospheric pressure, wind velocity and aerosol concentrations is studied.

In North America and Asia, extreme cold weather characterized the winter of 2017–18. At the same time, the Pacific, the Bering Sea, and the Atlantic Arctic regions experienced anomalously low sea ice extent in the early winter. The jet stream dividing cold Arctic air from warm air deviated from normal zonal patterns northward into the ice-free areas north of the Bering Strait. Large southward jet stream pathways formed over Asia and America, allowing cold air to spread into Asia and the southern areas of North America. We hypothesise that the late autumn Bering Strait sea-ice anomaly and Pacific atmospheric rivers were partially responsible for the cold winter. We used data analyses and numerical experiments to test this hypothesis. We propose a positive feedback mechanism between the sea ice anomaly and atmospheric river activity, with anomalous south winds toward the sea ice anomaly potentially leading to more warm water injected by the wind-driven current through the Bering Strait. Our findings suggest that Poleward propagation of the atmospheric rivers made upper air warm, leading to their upgliding, which further heated the overlying air, causing poleward jet meanders. As a part of this response the jet stream meandered southward over Asia and North America, resulting in cold intrusions. We speculate that the positive feedback mechanism observed during the 2017–18 winter could recur in future years when the sea-ice reduction in the Pacific Arctic interacts with enhanced atmospheric river activity.

Ice shelf instability is one of the main sources of uncertainty in Antarctica's contribution to future sea level rise. Calving events play a crucial role in ice shelf weakening but remain unpredictable, and their governing processes are still poorly understood. In this study, we analyze the unexpected September 2019 calving event from the Amery Ice Shelf, the largest since 1963 and which occurred almost a decade earlier than expected, to better understand the role of the atmosphere in calving. We find that atmospheric extremes provided a deterministic role in this event. A series of anomalously deep and stationary explosive twin polar cyclones over the Cooperation and Davis seas generated tides and wind-driven ocean slope, leading to fracture amplification along the pre-existing rift and ultimately calving of the massive iceberg. The calving was triggered by high oceanward sea surface slopes produced by the storms. The observed record-anomalous atmospheric conditions were promoted by blocking ridges and Antarctic-wide anomalous poleward transport of heat and moisture. Blocking highs helped in (i) directing moist and warm air masses towards the ice shelf and (ii) maintaining the observed extreme cyclones stationary at the front of the ice shelf for several days. Accumulation of cold air over the ice sheet, due to the blocking highs, led to the formation of an intense cold high pressure over the ice sheet, which helped fuel sustained anomalously deep cyclones via increased baroclinicity. Our results stress the importance of atmospheric extremes in ice shelf dynamics via tides and sea surface slope and its need to be accounted for when considering Antarctic ice shelf variability and contribution to sea level, especially given that more of these extremes are predicted under a warmer climate.

Six events of explosive cyclogenesis occurred in the south Atlantic were compared using reanalysis data and satellite water vapor imagery. Cases of different intensities (weak, moderate and strong) occurred during 2014 summer season and 2012 winter season were studied. Despite the similarities the tropopause anomaly was more prominent and vertical movements were stronger in the strong cyclogenesis cases. The tropopause anomalies behind the cold front and ahead of the warm front appear only in the mature stage of the weak and moderate cases while in the strong case it is already evident and more intense behind the cold front since the beginning of the cycle. In all the cases confluence of the jet streams took place at higher levels forming a jet streak with difluence occurring downstream and the cyclone beginning in the exit region. The trajectories of the cyclones were in the southeast direction but longer and more meridional in the strong cases. The results indicated the baroclinicity of the region as the main mechanism for the development of these cyclones as well as the amplitude of the upper level jet stream perturbation. Furthermore, all the explosive cyclones developed following the Shapiro & Keyser cyclone conceptual model.

This chapter explains the types, notation on weather maps, and mechanisms producing fronts, along with the characteristic types of weather expected along fronts. A cold front is a front in which the air from the colder air mass is advancing and the air from the warmer air mass is retreating. In a warm front, the warmer air is advancing and the colder air is retreating. The “cold” and “warm” in the name of the front is relative, with both happening throughout the year. In a stationary front, neither the colder nor the warmer air mass is advancing. Cold fronts, warm fronts, and stationary fronts generally trail from a system called a mid-latitude wave cyclone, with an enclosed area of low surface pressure at its core. Mid-latitude wave cyclones are born, circulate air at their most vigorous pace as they reach maturity, and then fade away after they have spent their energy. When the cold front eventually catches up with the warm front, lifting it above the surface, an occluded front occurs, leading to the end of the mid-latitude wave cyclone. Because of the favored positions of the Rossby wave ridges and troughs, over time certain spatial patterns of preferred cyclogenesis, migration, and cyclolysis emerge. These preferred tracks around North America are then described along with expected future trends in mid-latitude wave cyclone activity.

An extreme snowstorm event that occurred over Heilongjiang and Jilin Provinces on 24&ndash, 26 November 2013 was related to a cyclone characterized by a back-bent occluded front structure. This study investigates the structure of the back-bent occluded front and snowfall mechanism using multiple observations and NCEP/NCAR 1&deg, &times, 1&deg, reanalysis data in concert with the HYSPLIT model. The main results show that the extreme event was more synoptically governed by the outbreak of the polar vortex and moisture anomaly of the East Sea. The cyclone occurred just ahead of the 500-hPa merged deep trough, and then developed under the effect of the positive vorticity advection ahead of the 500-hPa trough and intense divergence of the upper-level jet. The south-southwest wind strengthened obviously after the merger of the southern and northern branch troughs, which was the main reason behind the cyclone moving northward. The moisture mainly originated from the Sea of Japan, insofar as that dry and cold air in the lower troposphere over the western mainland moistened obviously as it turned southward and passed over the Bohai Sea and the Sea of Japan, supplying abundant moisture for the snowstorm event. The intensity of moisture transport depended on the location and intensity of the cyclone. When the cyclone developed, the dry air continuously intruded into the cyclone&rsquo, s center, and made a conveyor belt of warm air wrap around it. The dry air gradually changed from descending to ascending motion as it moved ahead of the westerly trough, while the moist air in the northern part of the cyclone moved to the west and south and incorporated into the south of the cyclone center. Warm and moist air was lifted and arrived in the northwestern part of the cyclone after the occluded front&rsquo, s formation. Frontogenesis within the comma head was enhanced evidently owing to the rotation and deformation. The convergence between the southeast and northeast winds resulted in intense frontogenesis, leading to the enhancement of the front-scale ascent. Strong ascent formed in the comma head of the cyclone, which resulted in intense snowfall.

Ice shelf instability is one of the main sources of uncertainty in Antarctica's contribution to future sea level rise. Calving events play crucial role in ice shelf weakening but remain unpredictable and their governing processes are still poorly understood. In this study, we analyze the unexpected September 2019 calving event from the Amery Ice Shelf, the largest since 1963 and which occurred almost a decade earlier than expected, to better understand the role of the atmosphere in calving. We find that atmospheric extremes provided a deterministic role in this event. The calving was triggered by the occurrence of a series of anomalously-deep and stationary explosive twin polar cyclones over the Cooperation and Davis Seas which generated strong offshore winds leading to increased sea ice removal, fracture amplification along the pre-existing rift, and ultimately calving of the massive iceberg. The observed record-anomalous atmospheric conditions were promoted by blocking ridges and Antarctic-wide anomalous poleward transport of heat and moisture. Blocking highs helped in (i) directing moist and warm air masses towards the ice shelf and in (ii) maintaining stationary the observed extreme cyclones at the front of the ice shelf for several days. Accumulation of cold air over the ice sheet, due to the blocking highs, led to the formation of an intense cold-high pressure over the ice sheet, which helped fuel sustained anomalously-deep cyclones via increased baroclinicity. Our results stress the importance of atmospheric extremes in ice shelf instability and the need to be accounted for when considering Antarctic ice shelf variability and contribution to sea level, especially given that more of these extremes are predicted under a warmer climate.

Data on internal gravity and infrasound waves recorded during the passage of both warm and cold fronts throughout Moscow, which are associated with the atmospheric storm of May 29, 2017, are given. These waves were recorded by four microbarographs located in the city of Moscow and Moscow region (and marked IFA, MGU, MSR, and ZNS in Fig. 1) and the data obtained were compared with data on infrasound waves recorded at the IS43 station in the town of Dubna. Time variations in the characteristics of internal gravity and infrasound waves (coherence, propagation azimuths, phase velocities, characteristic periods, and frequency spectra) during the passage of both warm and cold fronts are studied. The transition from the gravity to acoustic dispersive branch of acoustic-gravity waves due to increasing frequency and the temporal modulation of the phase velocity of infrasound waves due to internal gravity waves (IGWs) are also studied. Data on both aerosol (PM10) and gas (NO2) concentrations measured at different Moscow stations during the approaching atmospheric storm are given. The possibility of detecting wave precursors of atmospheric storms in simultaneous variations in atmospheric pressure, wind velocity, and pollutant concentrations is studied.

We revisit the various stratosphere–troposphere coupling relation from the perspective of the meridional mass circulation. We constructed 10-hPa northern annular mode (NAM) phase composites to show the typical spatiotemporal evolution of circulation anomalies during the NAM’s life cycle. Our results indicate that there is large case-to-case difference in the temporal evolution and vertical profile of polar temperature anomalies during NAM events, which shows no strong dependence on the intensity and duration of NAM events, but agrees well with the variations of the three branches of mass circulation at 60°N: the stratospheric poleward warm air branch (ST), the poleward warm air branch in the upper troposphere (WB), and the equatorward cold air branch in the lower troposphere (CB). Such correspondence is due to the dynamic heating and cooling anomalies associated with the redistribution of air masses by the anomalous meridional mass circulation in different isentropic layers. The various relationship among the three mass circulation branches is attributed to anomalous wave activities. The amplitude and westward tilt of waves are always stronger (weaker) throughout the stratosphere before (after) the peak time of negative NAM events, leading to a stronger (weaker) ST before (after) the peak time. Variations in WB and CB are mostly dependent on wave variabilities in the mid- to lower troposphere, leading to variations in the timing of in- or out-of-phase coupling of the ST with the WB and CB, and thus various thermostructure during NAM events. At a later stage of the negative NAM events when the polar temperature becomes colder and the polar jet recovers, the weakened baroclinic instability in the lower stratosphere provides favorable conditions for the strengthening of the WB and CB if wave activities strengthen in the troposphere during that period.

Atmospheric fronts include cold fronts, warm fronts, and stationary fronts, and they can be idealized as boundaries between two air masses with different temperatures and other properties. Simple e...

Using ERA-Interim reanalysis daily data and gridded precipitation dataset, the evolution mechanism of East Asia-Pacific (EAP) teleconnection pattern and its relationship to summer precipitation in China were investigated on synoptic timescales based on EOF analysis, composite analysis, and significance test. The results demonstrate that the evolution of synoptic-scale EAP pattern is identified as having a significant relationship with the energy propagation represented by the wave-activity flux (WAF). Such EAP-related WAFs show various features in different levels of the troposphere. In the lower troposphere, the WAF primarily points poleward from the Philippines, playing a vital role in triggering and maintaining the synoptic-scale EAP pattern. A middle tropospheric zonally distributed ridge/trough/ridge wave train provides a favorable westerly waveguide for the southeastward (eastward) energy propagation, converging with a relatively weak poleward WAF over mid-latitude (high-latitude) East Asia. Moreover, the upper-level EAP-related anomalies are partly influenced by two conspicuous eastward WAFs. One may favor the development of Okhotsk anticyclonic (positive) anomaly, and the other one related to the Silk-Road (SR) wave train along the Asian jet converges into the cyclonic (negative) anomaly to greatly strengthen it. Particularly, the highly efficient baroclinic energy conversion responsible for the self-maintenance of SR pattern is also crucial for reinforcing and maintaining this cyclonic anomaly for a prolonged period by extraction of available potential energy from basic flow. In addition, during EAP pattern lifetime, due to the strong moisture flux convergence and upper-level divergence, the long-lasting strong ascents of moist/warm air along a moist and thick layer, therefore induce the summer consecutive extreme precipitation in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River.

The spatial and temporal variability of upwelling events occurring offshore northern Colombia (southern Caribbean Sea) on seasonal and intraseasonal time scales is analysed in detail for the period 01/1993–12/2015 using high-resolution oceanic and atmospheric reanalysis products. Different methods are applied that together allowed us to identify the upwelling and relaxation events observed in this area and to explain the main dynamic processes that occur within the annual cycle. In this region, the wind impulse directly determines the intensity and occurrence of upwelling. This upward motion can be full, with a clear surface signal during the months of intense northeast winds, or it can be partial during the rainy season, when winds weaken, and cold subsurface waters do not rise to the sea surface. There is evidence of onshore geostrophic flow affecting the Ekman dynamics when the wind impulse is low during the peak of the rainy season. Short-term atmospheric perturbations that interrupt the upwelling process for several days in La Guajira were characterised. On occasions, cold fronts associated with the intrusion of winds from the north (Nortes), and warm fronts associated with air masses coming from the eastern tropical Pacific, induce a favourable downwelling condition in the upper layer off La Guajira. During these short relaxation periods, the mixed layer is warm, and the relatively cold subsurface isotherms are located at greater depths due to the onshore transport of surface waters.

Caves are buried geological features of great scientific and engineering interest. Based on the well-known thermal inertia of cave settings with respect to the surface, we have tested the use of thermal infrared (TIR) cameras carried by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to identify and characterize shallow karstic conduits. A pilot area was selected in a limestone rock massif from the Betic Cordillera (Southern Spain). At surface, this area appears as a doline field with several explored shaft entrances. The main and deepest shaft was thermally monitored at different depths, showing two well defined seasonal stages: (i) air and temperature stratification in summer and (ii) upward air flow and temperature homogenization in winter. We carried out UAV surveys at the expected maximum thermal contrast hours, finding out that winter dawns yielded the most distinctive images. These images show new warm air exits (warm spots) apart from the known cave entrances, and emphasize some of the main entrances depicting large warmed areas around them, which, in turn, can be related to shallow voids and conduits in the cave system. Furthermore, TIR images have been georeferenced using a network of identifiable points that can be transferred from visible orthoimages. The resulting TIR orthoimage mosaics have allowed us to define a number of quantitative parameters to characterize the warm spots. The most important of these parameters are: (i) the characteristic temperature, which is the maximum significant temperature of the air escaping from cave openings; (ii) the warmed area, which is the area that appears on the TIR orthoimage with a temperature greater than the surface temperature mode; and (iii) the average temperature weighted to the affected area. The georeferenced TIR orthoimages and the derived parameters are a new and very valuable tool for both speleological exploration and engineering purposes.

One observed fingerprint of Pacific Arctic environmental change, induced by climate warming and amplified local feedbacks, is a shift toward earlier onset of sea ice melt. Shorter freeze periods impact the melt season energy balance with cascading effects on ecological productivity and human presence in the region. Through this study, a non-linear technique, self-organizing maps, is utilized to investigate the subseasonal role of regional pressure patterns and associated lower-tropospheric wind regimes on melt onset in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. Focus is directed on the frequency and duration (≥ 3 consecutive days) of offshore, onshore, and zonal/weak flow that tend to precede anomalous (late and early) and average times of melt. Background North Pacific climate forcing ascribed from the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) phase and Bering Strait oceanic heat flux measurements provide a surface thermal context to the composite wind fields. In early melt onset years, onshore (northerly) winds occur approximately 1–3 fewer days with offsetting increases in zonal and offshore flow in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. During these cases, the Beaufort High pattern tends to set-up more frequently around the southeastern Beaufort Sea region, yielding winds of a southerly and/or easterly nature that are enhanced by cyclone activity to the south or downstream. Chukchi Sea weather analyses, in particular, suggest that interacting, precursor mechanisms involving warm air advection off snow-free Arctic lands and from southerly latitudes coupled with a slightly positive PDO state and anomalous, poleward oceanic heat transfer condition the seasonal ice pack for increasingly early melt.

The development of ocean waves under explosive cyclones (ECs) is investigated in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean using a hindcast wave simulation around Japan during the period 1994 through 2014. A composite analysis of the ocean wave fields under ECs is used to investigate how the spatial patterns of the spectral wave parameters develop over time. Using dual criteria of a drop in sea level pressure below 980 hPa at the center of a cyclone and a decrease of at least 12 hPa over a 12-h period, ECs are identified in atmospheric reanalysis data. Two areas under an EC were identified with narrow directional spectra: the cold side of a warm front and the right-hand side of an EC (relative to the propagating direction). Because ECs are associated with atmospheric fronts, ocean waves develop very differently under ECs than they do under tropical cyclones. Moreover, ECs evolve very rapidly such that the development of the ocean wave field lags behind the peak wind speed by hours. In a case study of an EC that occurred in January 2013, the wave spectrum indicates that a warm front played a critical role in generating distinct ocean wave systems in the warm and cold zones along the warm front. Both the warm and cold zones have narrow directional and frequency spectra. In contrast, the ocean wave field in the third quadrant (rear left area relative to the propagation direction) of the EC is composed of swell and wind sea systems propagating in different directions.

The structural evolution of Typhoon Morakot (2009) during its passage across Taiwan was investigated with the WRF model. When Morakot approached eastern Taiwan, the low-level center was gradually filled by the Central Mountain Range (CMR), while the outer wind had flowed around the northern tip of the CMR and met the southwesterly monsoon to result in a strong confluent flow over the southern Taiwan Strait. When the confluent flow was blocked by the southern CMR, a secondary center (SC) without a warm core formed over southwestern Taiwan. During the northward movement of the SC along the west slope of the CMR, the warm air produced within the wake flow over the northwestern CMR was continuously advected into the SC, contributing to the generation of a warm core inside the SC. Consequently, a well-defined SC with a warm core, closed circulation and almost symmetric structure was produced over central western Taiwan, and then it coupled with Morakot’s mid-level center after crossing the CMR to reestablish a new and vertically stacked typhoon. Therefore, the SC inside Morakot was initially generated by a dynamic interaction among the TC’s cyclonic wind, southwesterly wind and orographic effects of the CMR, while the thermodynamic process associated with the downslope adiabatic warming effect documented by previous studies supported its development to be a well-defined SC. In summary, the evolution of the SC in this study is not in contradiction with previous studies, but just a complement, especially in the initial formation stage.

In austral spring 2016 the Antarctic region experienced anomalous sea ice retreat in all sectors, with sea ice extent in October and November 2016 being the lowest in the Southern Hemisphere over the observational period (1979–present). The extreme sea ice retreat was accompanied by widespread warming along the coastal areas as well as in the interior of the Antarctic continent. This exceptional event occurred along with a strong negative phase of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and the moistest and warmest spring on record, over large areas covering the Indian Ocean, the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. In October 2016, the positive anomalies of the totally integrated water vapor (IWV) and 2 m air temperature (T2m) over the Indian Ocean, western Pacific, Bellingshausen Sea and southern part of Ross Sea were unprecedented in the last 39 years. In October and November 2016, when the largest magnitude of negative daily sea ice concentration anomalies was observed, repeated episodes of poleward advection of warm and moist air took place. These results suggest the importance of moist and warm air intrusions into the Antarctic region as one of the main contributors to this exceptional sea ice retreat event.

Profiles of periodic GPS Radiosonde ascends collected from a station at the west coast of India (Goa) during summer monsoon months (June to September) of 2009 and 2013 have been used to analyze the thermal inversion statistics at various heights and their repercussions on the regional weather is studied. The interaction of contrasting air masses over the northern Arabian Sea often produces a two layer structure in the lower 5000 m close to the coastal station with warm and dusty air (Summer Shamal) occupying the space above the cool and moist Low Level Jet (LLJ) by virtue of their density differences. The warm air intrusion creates low lapse rate pockets above LLJ and modifies the gravitational stability strong enough to inhibit convection. It is observed that the inversion occurring in the lower 3000 m layer with an optimum layer thickness of 100–200 m has profound influence on the weather beneath it. We demonstrated the validity of the proposed hypothesis by analyzing the collocated data from radiosonde, lidar and the rain gauge during 16th July 2013 as a case study. The lidar depolarization ratio provides evidence to support the two layer structure in the lidar backscatter image. The presence of dust noticed in the two layer interface hints the intrusion of warm air that makes the atmosphere stable enough to suppress convection. The daily rainfall record of 2013 surprisingly coincides with the patterns of a regional break like situation centered at 16th July 2013 in Goa.

We investigate water-ice clouds and their influence on the temperature structure of the Martian atmosphere at high northern latitudes in early summer. New results are obtained through coordinated analysis of two types of data from Mars Global Surveyor: atmospheric profiles retrieved from radio occultation (RO) measurements and wide-angle images from the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). Some RO profiles contain a layer of neutral static stability, which indicates the presence of convective mixing at a local time (about 5 h) when it does not usually occur. These nocturnal mixed layers (NMLs) were observed frequently in early summer of Mars year 27 at latitudes of 53–72°N and longitudes of 210–330°E. The base of a typical NML is 3 km above the surface, about the same height as the nighttime cloud layer detected by the Phoenix LIDAR in early summer of Mars year 29 at 234°E, 68°N. The depth of the NMLs ranges from less than 1 km to more than 5 km. Comparisons with nearly simultaneous MOC images demonstrate that NMLs are closely associated with water-ice clouds. There is a dense cluster of NMLs within the annular cloud that appears every year in early summer between Alba Mons and the north polar residual ice cap. The lighting conditions at this location and season allowed MOC to observe the annular cloud on most orbits, at 118-min intervals. Its appearance varies dramatically with local time, becoming more symmetrical and better organized at night and dissipating to a crescent shape during the day. According to high-resolution numerical simulations (Spiga et al., 2017), including a large-eddy simulation at the Phoenix landing site, NMLs form when radiative cooling by water-ice aerosols causes convective instability; the mixed layer is forced from above by negative buoyancy. Our results strongly support this conclusion. In addition, MOC images from midsummer contain eastward-moving frontal clouds. Temperature profiles within these clouds show signs of near-surface advection of warm air, which reduces the static stability of the lower atmosphere and contributes, along with cloud radiation, to the formation of an NML.

In this article, the synoptic-scale spatial structures for raising tornadic and hail storms are compared by analyzing the total and anomalous variable fields from the troposphere to the stratosphere. 15 cases of tornado outbreaks and 20 cases of hail storms that occurred in the central United States during 1980–2011 were studied. The anomalous temperature–height field shows that a tornadic or hail storm usually occurs at the boundary of anomalous warm and cold air masses horizontally in the troposphere. In one side, an anomalous warm air mass in the mid-low troposphere and an anomalous cold air mass in the stratosphere are vertically separated by a positive center of height anomalies at the upper troposphere. In another side, an opposite vertical pattern shows that an anomalous cold air mass in the mid-low troposphere and an anomalous warm air mass in the stratosphere are separated by a negative center of height anomalies at the upper troposphere. Therefore, two pairs of adjacent anomalous warm/cold centers and one pair of anomalous high/low centers combining together form a major tornadic or hail storm paradigm, which can be physically considered as the storage of anomalous potential energy (APE) to generate severe weather. To quantitatively measure the APE, we define an index of anomalous convective instability (ACI) which is a difference of integrating temperature anomalies based on two vertically opposite anomalous air masses. The APE transformation to anomalous kinetic energy, which reduces horizontal and vertical gradients of temperature anomalies, produces anomalous rising and sinking flows in the lower-layer anomalous warm and cold air mass sides, respectively. The intensity of ACI index for tornadic storm cases is 1.5 times larger than that of hail storm cases in average. Thus, this expression of anomalous variables is better than total variables used in the traditional synoptic chart and the ACI index is better than other indices to detect potential tornadic and hail storms in order to understand the environmental conditions affecting severe weather in analytical and model output datasets.

Year-to-year variations in summer precipitation have great socioeconomic impacts on China. Historical rainfall variability over China is investigated using a newly released high-resolution dataset. The results reveal summer-mean rainfall anomalies associated with ENSO that are anchored by mountains in central China east of the Tibetan Plateau. These orographically anchored hot spots of ENSO influence are poorly represented in coarse-resolution datasets so far in use. In post–El Niño summers, an anomalous anticyclone forms over the tropical northwest Pacific, and the anomalous southwesterlies on the northwest flank cause rainfall to increase in mountainous central China through orographic lift. At upper levels, the winds induce additional adiabatic updraft by increasing the eastward advection of warm air from Tibet. In post–El Niño summers, large-scale moisture convergence induces rainfall anomalies elsewhere over flat eastern China, which move northward from June to August and amount to little in the seasonal mean.

In this study the anomalous behavior of air temperature on South and Southeast Brazilian regions during summer (2013-2014), as well as the low-levels atmospheric circulation anomalies, were analyzed employing MERRA reanalysis dataset. Such anomalies were obtained from 1979-2008 climatology for two quarters: DJF (December 2013, January and February 2014) and JFM (January, February and March 2014). It was verified that for the designation of “abnormally warm”, JFM was the most representative quarter. By streamline anomaly field in 850 hPa an intensification of northern meridional wind component, that advected moist and warm air mass from Amazonian region (causing a positively anomalous behavior of specific humidity in this level, as well as temperature in surface), was observed. Moreover, a probably greater frequency and/or intensity of extratropical cyclones in Southeast of South America was verified. However, the cold fronts associated with them did not reach the study area.

Ground and air temperature monitoring, geophysical soundings and dendrological investigations were applied to a basaltic talus slope–rock glacier system from Detunata site in the Apuseni Mountains (Western Romanian Carpathians) to verify the presence of sporadic permafrost at 1020–1110 m asl, well below the regional limit of mountain permafrost. The near 0 °C mean annual ground surface temperatures imposed by the large negative annual thermal anomalies of the ground (up to 7.4 °C), together with the high resistivity values and the occurrence of trees with severe growth anomalies, support the presence of permafrost at this location. Temperature measurements and ground air circulation experiments proved that the so-called “chimney effect” is the main process favoring the ground overcooling and allowed for the construction of a model of ground air circulation in complex morphology deposits. The texture and porosity of the debris were quantified along with the local morphology in order to evaluate their role upon the chimney circulation. The debris porosity was found to be very high promoting intense ground overcooling during the cold season, including the periods of high snow cover due to the development of snow funnels. It efficiently reduces the heat transfer during summer thus contributing essentially to permafrost preservation. In compound morphologies, the depressed and low-lying features are the cold zones subjected to winter overcooling and summer chill, while the high-positioned and convex-up landforms become warm air evacuation features with positive thermal anomalies. Tree-ring measurements showed that the growth of cold-affected trees is higher during colder intervals (years to decades) probably as a consequence of the weakened katabatic air outflow during cooler summers. The dendrological analysis of multi-centennial spruces and their growth rates also provided palaeoclimatic inferences for the last 200 years.

We explore the interannual variability of summertime extratropical transient activity and assess its influence on rainfall over southeastern South America focusing on Uruguay. Transient wave activity is characterized calculating the group velocity using daily mean meridional velocity at 300 hPa. It is found that transient activity shows strong interannual variability consisting in patterns that represent a strengthening of wave activity in the subtropical Pacific, and meridional shifts in the position of the Pacific and Atlantic storm tracks. Part of the variability is associated with El Nino, which strongly influences northern Uruguay. Rainfall in southern Uruguay is correlated with latitudinal shifts in transient wave activity such that a strengthening in transient energy between 35° and 45°S extending from the southeastern Pacific into the South American continent favours positive anomalies. For El Nino to induce increased rainfall over southern Uruguay it has to force two stationary waves: one that emanates from central Pacific describing an arch of low curvature into high latitudes and then towards the south Atlantic and another shorter wave that emanates from the eastern Pacific turning north-eastward at the latitude of the subtropical jet. When the latter is strong, surface northerlies reach southern Uruguay destabilizing the atmosphere due to enhanced transport of moisture and warm air. Coincident changes in transient wave activity south of 35°S increases the associated frontal activity and thus can induce positive rainfall anomalies by tapping the increased available moisture. In this case, the sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies are maximum in the central equatorial Pacific. On the other hand, a warmer eastern Pacific generates a stationary wave that shifts the subtropical jet northward increasing rainfall over south Brazil and decreasing it to the south of Uruguay. Thus, the summertime influence of El Nino over southern Uruguay is strongly dependent on the pattern of equatorial Pacific SST anomalies.

With the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model specifically configured to simulate the intensification and evolution of an extratropical baroclinic wave, this study first investigates why cold fronts are characteristically longer, narrower, and more intense than warm fronts in the extratropical atmosphere. It is found that the differential thermal advection by the geostrophic and ageostrophic wind components in the two frontal regions results in a greater thermal contrast across the cold front. The length of the cold front is essentially the length scale of the intensifying baroclinic wave (i.e., on the order of radius of deformation). The frontal system as a whole moves eastward under the influence of a steering flow. In addition, the cold front outpaces the warm front eastward, making the western portion of the warm front progressively occluded and the eastern portion of the warm front shorter. The dynamical processes tend to move the cold front eastward, whereas the diabatic heating processes tend to move it westward, contributing to the narrowness of the cold front. This study also investigates whether, how, and why an upper-level front (ULF) would synergistically interact with a surface front (SF). It is found that a favorable circumstance for such interaction to occur in an observed extratropical cyclone and in the WRF Model simulation is when the ULF and SF are roughly parallel to one another with the ULF aloft located a few hundred kilometers to the west of the SF. The relative importance of “forcing” for the ageostrophic circulation associated with the geostrophic circulation, diabatic heating, and friction are diagnosed in such interaction.

Values obtained by the real-time pollen monitors set up at 14 measuring points in the Tohoku region indicate that a large amount of Japanese cedar pollen was dispersed along the western region and northern flank of the Ou Mountain Range when a front accompanying the temperate low pressures passed through the west sea of northern Hokkaido. We are sure that this phenomenon is related to pollen enrichment by mountain ranges. The time at which highest concentrations of pollen grains were observed shifted from the western to the eastern side, in accordance with the path of the front. No pollen was seen after the passage of the cold front.

An event based, long-term, climatological analysis is presented that allows the creation of coastal ocean atmospheric forcing on the coastal ocean that preserves both frequency of occurrence and event time history. An algorithm is developed that identifies individual storm event (cold fronts, warm fronts, and tropical storms) from meteorological records. The algorithm has been applied to a location along the South Atlantic Bight, off South Carolina, an area prone to cyclogenesis occurrence and passages of atmospheric fronts. Comparison against daily weather maps confirms that the algorithm is efficient in identifying cold fronts and warm fronts, while the identification of tropical storms is less successful. The average state of the storm events and their variability are represented by the temporal evolution of atmospheric pressure, air temperature, wind velocity, and wave directional spectral energy. The use of uncorrected algorithm-detected events provides climatologies that show a little deviation from those derived using corrected events. The effectiveness of this analysis method is further verified by numerically simulating the wave conditions driven by the characteristic wind forcing and comparing the results with the wave climatology that corresponds to each storm type. A high level of consistency found in the comparison indicates that this analysis method can be used for accurately characterizing event-based oceanic processes and long-term storm-induced morphodynamic processes on wind-dominated coasts.

The Red Sea convergence zone (RSCZ) is formed by opposite surface winds blowing from northwest to southeast directions at around 18°–19°N between October and January. A reverse-oriented, low-level monsoon trough at 850 hPa, known as the Red Sea trough (RST), transfers moisture from the southern Red Sea to RSCZ. The positions of the RSCZ and RST and the intensity of the RST have been identified as important factors in modulating weather and climatic conditions across the Middle East. Here, we investigate the influence of the El Nino southern oscillation (ENSO) on the interannual variability of RSCZ, RST, and regional rainfall during winter months. Our results indicate that El Nino (warm ENSO phase) favours a shift of the RSCZ to the north and a strengthening of the RST in the same direction. Conversely, during November and December of La Nina periods (cold ENSO phase), the RSCZ shift to the south and the RST strengthens in the same direction. During El Nino periods, southeasterly wind speeds increase (20–30%) over the southern Red Sea and northwesterly wind speeds decrease (10–15%) over the northern Red Sea. Noticeable increases in the number of rainy days and the intensity of rain events are observed during El Nino phases. These increases are associated with colder than normal air intrusion at lower levels from the north combined with warm air intrusion from the south over the RSCZ. Our analysis suggests that during El Nino winters, warmer sea surface temperatures and higher convective instability over the Red Sea favour local storms conditions and increase rainfall over the Red Sea and adjoining regions.

NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data and a 47-yr daily precipitation dataset from a network of 42 rain gauges are used to analyze the atmospheric heat source ( ) anomaly over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and its influence on the summer precipitation anomaly in the Sichuan–Chongqing region. Results show that the vertical advection of over the central TP is a major factor affecting summer precipitation in the Sichuan–Chongqing region. When the vertical advection of over the central TP is strengthened, the South Asian high shifts further than normal to the south and east, the western Pacific subtropical high shifts further than normal to the south and west, and the Indian low weakens. This benefits the transport of warm moist air from the low latitude oceans to the Sichuan–Chongqing region. Correspondingly, in the high latitudes, two ridges and one trough form, which lead to cool air moving southward. These two air masses converge over the Sichuan–Chongqing region, leading to significant precipitation. In contrast, when the vertical advection of over the central TP is weakened, the South Asian high moves to the north and west, the subtropical high moves eastward and northward, and the Indian low strengthens. This circulation pattern is unfavorable for warm air advection from the south to the Sichuan–Chongqing region, and the cool air further north cannot move southward because of the presence of two troughs and one ridge at high latitude. Thus, ascent over the Sichuan–Chongqing region is weakened, resulting in less precipitation.

The frequency of drought occurring in the Luanhe River basin in China has increased since 1965. The severe droughts are mainly influenced by the negative phase of Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the 12-month time-lag La Nina events. In this study, we investigate the mechanism of the severe droughts occurring in the Luanhe River basin due to the 12-month time-lag Pacific sea-surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) and AO in the Luanhe River basin for the period of 1965–2012. According to the 3-month time scale of the low-level circulations and SSTA in the Pacific Ocean, when AO is in a continuous negative phase, the geopotential height at the 500-hPa level over high-latitude regions, such as Siberia, Lake Baikal and the Ural Mountains, decreases. The Europe–Asia wave train is located southward, which results in meridional anomalous circulation prevailing over East Asia. Due to air–sea interactions, the 12-month time-lag Pacific SSTA weakens the northwestern Pacific subtropical high and blocks the warm air from the Pacific. When the negative phase of AO and La Nina happened simultaneously during 1971/1972, the first stage of 2000/2002 and 2008/2009, a severe drought occurred in the Luanhe River basin. A severe drought happened in this region during 1980/1981 and the third stage of 2000/2002 when AO was in the negative phase.

This study investigates the individual effects of the East Atlantic/West Russia (EATL/WRUS) and Western Pacific (WP) teleconnection patterns and their combined effect on the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM). The contributions of the respective EATL/WRUS and WP teleconnection patterns to the EAWM are revealed by removing the dependence on the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) using a linear regression, which are named as N_EATL/WRUS and N_WP, respectively. This is because the EATL/WRUS (WP) is closely linked to the Arctic (tropics) region. A significant increase (decrease) in temperature over East Asia (EA) corresponding to a weak (strong) EAWM is associated with the N_EATL/WRUS and N_WP teleconnection patterns during the positive (negative) phases. In order to examine impacts of these two teleconnections on the EAWM, three types of effects are reconstructed on the basis of ± 0.5 standard deviation: 1) Combined effect, 2) N_EATL/WRUS effect, and 3) N_WP effect. The positive N_EATL/WRUS teleconnection induces to a weakened Siberian High and a shallow EA trough at the mid-troposphere through wave propagation, leading to the weak EAWM. During the positive N_WP pattern, warm air from the tropics flows toward the EA along western flank of an anomalous anticyclone over the North Pacific that is relevant to the meridional shift of the Aleutian Low. When the two mid-latitude teleconnections have the in-phase combination, the increase in temperature over EA appears to be more pronounced than the individual effects by transporting warm air from tropics via strong southeasterly wind anomalies induced by anomalous zonal pressure gradient between the Siberian High and Aleutian Low. Therefore, the impact of the mid-latitude teleconnections on the EAWM becomes robust and linearly superimposed, unlike a nonlinear in-phase combined effect of the AO and ENSO.

Diabatically generated low-level potential vorticity (PV) anomalies in extratropical cyclones enhance near-surface winds and influence the cyclone’s development. Positive and negative PV anomalies in the warm-frontal region of an extratropical cyclone, simulated with an idealized moist baroclinic channel model, are investigated to identify the microphysical processes that produce them. Using a novel method based on backward trajectories from the PV anomalies, the contribution of different microphysical processes to the formation of the anomalies is quantified. It is found that, for each anomaly, typically one specific microphysical process takes the leading role in its diabatic generation. A large but rather weak low- and midlevel positive anomaly is produced by depositional growth of ice and snow. Two smaller but stronger positive anomalies at lower levels are generated mainly by in-cloud condensational heating at the warm front and below-cloud rain evaporation and snow melting 200 km farther north. In addition, near-surface negative anomalies are produced by snow melting and snow sublimation. In summary, this idealized study reveals that (i) a variety of microphysical processes are involved in generating the complex mesoscale PV structures along the warm front; (ii) the model representation of these processes, some of them still insufficiently understood and parameterized, therefore matters for an accurate prediction of these features; (iii) below-cloud processes are also relevant for PV anomalies located in clouds, owing to accumulation of diabatic PV tendencies along ascending air parcels; and (iv) the diabatic history of the air parcels is essential in order to explain the observed PV pattern.

Multi-scale interactions between the glacier surface, the overlying atmosphere and the surrounding alpine terrain are highly complex. The high heterogeneity of boundary layer processes that couple these systems drives temporally and spatially variable energy fluxes and melt rates. A comprehensive measurement campaign, the HEFEX (Hintereisferner Experiment), was conducted during the summer of 2018. The aim of this experiment was to investigate spatial and temporal dynamics of the near-surface boundary layer and associated heat exchange processes close to the glacier surface during the melting season. The experimental setup of five meteorological stations was designed to capture the spatial and temporal characteristics of the local wind system on the glacier and to quantify the contribution of horizontal heat advection from surrounding ice-free areas to the local energy flux variability at the glacier. Turbulence data suggest that the temporal change in the local wind system strongly affect the micrometeorology at the glacier. Low-level katabatic flows were persistently measured during both night time and daytime and were responsible for consistently low near-surface air temperatures with small spatial variations at the glacier. On the contrary, local turbulence profiles of momentum and heat revealed strong changes of the local thermodynamic characteristics at the glacier when larger-scale westerly flows disturbed the prevailing katabatic flow forming low-level across-glacier flows. Warm air advection from the surrounding ice-free areas significantly increased near-surface air-temperatures at the glacier, with strong horizontal temperature gradients from the peripheral zones towards the centerline of the glacier. Despite generally lower near-surface wind speeds during the across-glacier flow, peak horizontal heat advection from the peripheral zones towards the centerline and strong transport of turbulence from higher atmospheric layers downward resulted in enhanced turbulent heat exchange towards the glacier surface at the glacier centerline. Thus, at the centerline of the glacier the exposure to strong larger-scale westerly winds promoted heat exchange processes at the glacier surface potentially contributing to ice melt. On the contrary, at the peripheral zones of the glacier turbulence data indicate that stronger sheltering from the larger-scale flows allowed the preservation of a katabatic jet, which suppressed the efficiency of the across-glacier flow to drive heat exchange towards the glacier surface by decoupling low-level atmospheric layers from the flow aloft. To explain the origin of the across-glacier flow would however require large eddy simulations.