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. 2021 Apr 26;38(6):896–904. doi: 10.1007/s00376-021-1094-y

The 2020 Summer Floods and 2020/21 Winter Extreme Cold Surges in China and the 2020 Typhoon Season in the Western North Pacific

Chunzai Wang 1,2,3,✉, Yulong Yao 1,2,3, Haili Wang 1,2,3, Xiubao Sun 1,2,3, Jiayu Zheng 1,2,3
PMCID: PMC8074705  PMID: 33935342

Abstract

China experienced significant flooding in the summer of 2020 and multiple extreme cold surges during the winter of 2020/21. Additionally, the 2020 typhoon season had below average activity with especially quiet activity during the first half of the season in the western North Pacific (WNP). Sea surface temperature changes in the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans all contributed to the heavy rainfall in China, but the Atlantic and Indian Oceans seem to have played dominant roles. Enhancement and movement of the Siberian High caused a wavier pattern in the jet stream that allowed cold polar air to reach southward, inducing cold surges in China. Large vertical wind shear and low humidity in the WNP were responsible for fewer typhoons in the first half of the typhoon season. Although it is known that global warming can increase the frequency of extreme weather and climate events, its influences on individual events still need to be quantified. Additionally, the extreme cold surge during 16–18 February 2021 in the United States shares similar mechanisms with the winter 2020/21 extreme cold surges in China.

Key words: extreme weather and climate events, climate variability, climate change, summer floods, winter cold surge, typhoon activity

Acknowledgements

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41731173), the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2019YFA0606701), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant Nos. XDB42000000 and XDA20060502), the Key Special Project for Introduced Talents Team of Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou) (Grant No. GML2019ZD0306), the Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. ISEE2018PY06), and the Leading Talents of Guangdong Province Program.

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