The characteristics of clusters of weather and extreme climate events in China during the past 50 years

The pick-up algorithm by the k-th order cluster for the closest distance is used in the fields of weather and climactic events, and the technical terms clustered index and high clustered region are defined to investigate their temporal and spatial distribution characteristics in China during the past 50 years. The results show that the contribution of extreme high-temperature event clusters changed in the period from the 1960s to the 1970s, and its strength was enhanced. On the other hand, the decreasing trend in the clusters of low-temperature extremes can be taken as a signal for warmer winters to follow in the decadal time scale. Torrential rain and heavy rainfall clusters have both been lessened in the past 50 years, and have different cluster characteristics because of their definitions. Regions with high clustered indexes are concentrated in southern China. The spatial evolution of the heavy rainfall clusters reveals that clustered heavy rainfall has played an important role in the rain-belt pattern over China during the last 50 years.