Moisture sources of the first rainy season extreme precipitation events in the hotspots of Guangdong, South China

The first rainy season (April-May-June) extreme precipitation events over South China tend to frequently occur in specific hotspots, resulting in a great threat to local society and economy. Abundant moisture supply is essential to precipitation formation. In this study, we employ the FLEXPART model to investigate the geographical moisture sources for extreme precipitation events in three hotspots of Guangdong from west to east (termed as Area-A, B, and C). During both the periods before and after the onset of the South China Sea Summer Monsoon (hereafter SCSSM), the moisture contributions of ocean regions are larger than that of land regions for all the hotspots, but the main moisture source regions are different. Before the onset of SCSSM, the main source regions are South China Sea and Southeastern Asia, which contribute 36.50 and 31.79% to Area-A, 35.85 and 27.83% to Area-B, while 42.27 and 23.81% to Area-C, respectively. After the onset of SCSSM, the contribution of moisture from Indian Ocean increases a lot. Thus, the main source regions are Indian Ocean, Southeastern Asia and South China Sea, which contribute 31.52, 24.58 and 18.13% to Area-A, 29.21, 21.82 and 14.99% to Area-B, 26.62, 20.70%, and 28.19% to Area-C, respectively. Among the three hotspots, the contribution of ocean regions for Area-C is the largest. Southeastern Asia is the main land contributor before and after the onset of SCSSM for all the hotspots. This study implies the important role of both ocean and land moisture sources on extreme precipitation variations over South China.

Automated summary

Extreme precipitation events during the rainy season in South China frequently occur in specific hotspots, posing a great threat to local society and economy. This study reveals the important roles of moisture sources from both ocean and land in these events.