Variation in Summer Rainfall in North China during the Period 1956-2007 and Links with Atmospheric Circulation

Using gauge precipitation data and NCEP-NCAR reanalysis data, the interdecadal changes in summer precipitation during the period 1956-2007 in North China and the link with atmospheric circulation change over Eurasia are studied. Results show that precipitation amounts decreased by 16.2 mm per decade, which was attributable to a significant reduction in precipitation frequency. Contrary wave trains were found in the subtropical westerly jet (wave guide) over Eurasia for the wet and dry years of North. China. When the wave trains had a ridge (trough) around the Korean Peninsula, conditions favored (disfavored) the westward and northward extension of the West Pacific subtropical high. The westward and northward extension of the West Pacific subtropical high is, and was, beneficial to rainfall in North China. The downstream propagation of Rossby waves was found to favor the maintenance of these wave trains. Sensible heating in the south of Lake Baikal and latent heating from the Korean Peninsula to the south of Japan increased during the period 1980-2007, as compared to that during 1957-1979, the wet period. These changes had positive influences on the maintenance of Anticyclonic-Cyclonic anomaly centers in the wave trains. Furthermore, northerly winds were prevalent in the lower troposphere during the dry period (1980-2007), which prohibited the transportation of water vapor to North China from the seas and thereby led to a decrease in rainfall in North China. The weakening of the Indian Monsoon during the dry period might be one of reasons for the reduction in water vapor transportation.