Abstract
The extreme drought of 2009/2010 over southwestern China is the driest event with the lowest percentage rainfall anomaly and the longest non-rain days during winter season (October–February) in the past 50 years, and also the severest one with the lowest percentage rainfall anomaly at the same period since 1880. The drought domain is characterized with anomalous warming and drying in the mid-lower troposphere as well as an evident anomalous subsidence. The favorable circulation anomalies for this drought are associated with the following two factors. One is the strongest negative-phase Arctic Oscillation during 2009/2010 winter that accompanies with a weakened Middle East Jet Stream (MEJS), the cyclonic anomaly over Arabian Sea (AS), the anticyclonic anomaly over Tibet and the cyclonic anomaly over Lake Baikal. The weakened MEJS, the AS cyclonic anomaly and the Tibet anticyclonic anomaly weaken the Southern Branch Trough (SBT) that directly decreases the moisture transport toward the southwestern China; the cyclonic anomaly over the Lake Baikal causes a deepened and westward shifted East Asian Major Trough (EAT) so that dry cold air behind the EAT easily invades down to southwestern China. The AS cyclonic anomaly favors the westward extension of Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH). The westward extension of WPSH is also associated with the second factor that is the El Nino Modoki event during 2009/2010 autumn–winter. The intensification and westward extension of WPSH enhance the local subsidence, weaken the SBT and exacerbate this drought.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig1_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig2_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig3_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig4_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig5_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig6_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig7_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig8_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig9_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig10_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig11_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig12_HTML.gif)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1007%2Fs00703-011-0172-6/MediaObjects/703_2011_172_Fig13_HTML.gif)
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
The Niño 3 Region is bounded by 90°W–150°W and 5°S–5°N.
Following Ashok et al. (2007), the EMI is defined as: EMI = [SSTA]c − 0.5[SSTA]E − 0.5[SSTA]w where the square bracket with a subscript represents the area-mean SSTA, averaged over one of the three regions specified as the central (C: 165°E–140°W, 10°S–10°N), eastern (E: 110°–70°W, 15°S–5°N), and western (W: 125°–145°E, 10°S–20°N).
References
Ashok K, Behera SK, Rao AS, Weng HY, Yamagata T (2007) El Niño Modoki and its possible teleconnection. J Geophys Res 112:C11007. doi:10.1029/2006JC003798
Bao Q, Wang B, Liu Y, Wu GX (2008) Impact of Tibet Plateau on East Asian summer monsoon: numerical study. J Atm Sci (in Chinese) 32:997–1005
Bao Q, Yang J, Liu Y, Wu G, Wang B (2010) Roles of anomalous Tibetan Plateau warming on the severe 2008 winter storm in central-southern China. Mon Weather Rev 138:2375–2384
Gao H, Yang S (2009) A severe drought event in northern China in winter 2008–2009 and the possible influences of La Niña and Tibetan Plateau. J Geophys Res 114:D24104. doi:10.1029/2009JD012430
Gong DY, Ho CH (2003) Arctic Oscillation signals in East Asian summer monsoon. J Geophys Res 108(D2):4066. doi:10.1029/2002JD002193
Hoskins BJ, Wang B (2006) Large-scale atmospheric dynamics. In: Wang B (ed) The Asian monsoon. Springer, New York, pp 357–415
Kalnay E, Kanamitsu M, Kistler R et al (1996) The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 77:437–470
Li YH, Xu HM, Liu D (2009) Features of the extremely severe drought in the east of Southwest China and anomalies of atmospheric circulation in summer 2006. Acta Meterol Sin (in Chinese) 67:122–132
Li XZ, Wen ZP, Zhou W (2010) Long-term change in summer water vapor transport over south China in recent decades. J Meteorol Soc Jpn 89:259–306
Liu Y, Zhao EX, Peng GF, Yang SQ (2007) Severe drought in the early summer of 2005 in Yunnan and middle-high latitudes circulation. Arid Meteor 25:32–37
Qiu J (2010) China drought highlights future climate threats. Nature 465:142–143
Rayner NA, Parker DE, Horton EB et al (2003) Global analyses of sea surface temperature, sea ice and night marine air temperature since the late nineteenth century. J Geophys Res 108:4407. doi:10.1029/2002JD002670
Song LC, Deng ZL, Dong AX (2003) Drought. China Meteorological Press, Bei**g, p 162
Suo MQ (2008) Formation, propagation and evolution characteristics of wintertime southern branch trough in the subtropical westerlies and its impacts on the weather and climate in China. Dissertation, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences and Nan**g Unverisity of Information Science and Technology
Suo MQ, Ding YH, Wang ZY (2008) Relationship between Rossby wave propagation in southern Branch of westerlies and the formation of the Southern Branch Trough in Wintertime. J Appl Meteorol 19:731–740
Sverdrup HU (1947) Wind-driven currents in a baroclinic ocean: with application to the equatorial currents of the eastern Pacific. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76:3051–3055
Thompson DWJ, Wallace JM (1998) The Arctic Oscillation signature in the wintertime geopotential height and temperature fields. Geophys Res Lett 25:1297–1300
Trenberth KE (1997) The definition of El Niño. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 78:2771–2777
Wang L, Chen W, Zhou W, Huang RH (2009a) Interannual variations of 500 hPa East Asian trough axis and its influence on the pathway of the East Asian winter monsoon. J Clim 22:600–614
Wang SW, Zhao ZG, Li WG (2009b) Atlas of seasonal mean temperature and precipitation anomalies over China (in Chinese). China Meteorological Press, Bei**g
Wang L, Chen W, Zhou W, Chan JCL, Barriopedro D, Huang RH (2010) Effect of the climate shift around mid 1970s on the relationship between wintertime Ural blocking circulation and East Asian climate. Int J Climatol 30:153–158. doi:10.1002/joc.1876
Wen M, Yang S, Kumar A, Zhang PQ (2009) An analysis of the large-scale climate anomalies associated with the snowstorms affecting China in January 2008. Mon Weather Rev 137:1111–1131
Weng HY, Ashok K, Behera SK, Rao SA, Yamagata T (2007) Impacts of recent El Niño Modoki on dry/wet conditions in the Pacific rim during boreal summer. Clim Dyn 29:113–129. doi:10.1007/s00382-007-0234-0
Weng HY, Behera SK, Yamagata T (2009) Anomalous winter climate conditions in the Pacific rim during recent El Nino Modoki and El Nino events. Clim Dyn 32:663–674
Wu G, Liu Y (2003) Summertime quadruplet heating pattern in the subtropics and the associated atmospheric circulation. Geophys Res Lett 30:1201. doi:10.1029/2002GL016209
Yan HM, Duan X, Cheng JG (2007) Study on a severe drought event over Yunnan in spring 2005 (in Chinese). J Trop Meteorol 23:300–306
Yang JC, Tao SY, Ye DZ et al. (1960) Tibet plateau meteorology. Science Press, Bei**g, pp 11–280
Zhou W, Wang X, Zhou TJ, Li CY, Chan JCL (2007) Interdecadal variability of the relationship between the East Asian winter monsoon and ENSO. Meteorol Atmos Phys. doi:10.1007/s00703-007-0263-6
Zhou W, Chan JCL, Chen W, Ling J, Pinto JG, Shao Y (2009) Synoptic-scale controls of persistent low temperature and icy weather over Southern china in January 2008. Mon Weather Rev. doi:10.1175/2009MWR2952.1
Zou XK, Gao H (2007) Analysis of severe drought and heat wave over the Sichuan Basin in the summer of 2006 (in Chinese). Adv Clim Chang Res 3:149–153
Acknowledgments
The work is supported from 973 project (Grant. 2012CB955400), NSFC (Grant. 41005036), and specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (SRFDP).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible editor: B. Ahrens.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, J., Gong, D., Wang, W. et al. Extreme drought event of 2009/2010 over southwestern China. Meteorol Atmos Phys 115, 173–184 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-011-0172-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-011-0172-6