How Do Extreme Summer Precipitation Events Over Eastern China Subregions Change?

In this study, observations from the CN05.1 daily data set and K-means clustering were used to capture spatiotemporal characteristics of extreme precipitation events (EPEs) during summer over eastern China subregions from 1961 to 2018. Five subregions including South China (SC), the Yangtze River Basin (YRB), the HeTao Area (HTA), North China (NC), and Northeast China (NEC) are identified, which is distinct from previous studies. There were significant rates of EPEs transfer from the YRB-type to SC-type (18%), HTA-type to YRB-type (16%), HTA-type to NC-type (22%), and NC-type to NEC-type (25%), and the associated processes of synoptic evolution are addressed. Within these types of regional EPEs, intrinsic relationships exist that have not been recorded by previous studies. The intraseasonal evolution of summer EPEs shows a northward migration of the rainbelt influenced by the East Asian summer monsoon system. Moreover, temporal variations of regional EPEs from interannual timescales to long-term trends are examined.

Automated summary

This study used observations and K-means clustering to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of extreme precipitation events (EPEs) during summer over eastern China. It identified five subregions and examined the transfer rates and synoptic evolution of different types of EPEs. The study also revealed specific relationships and seasonal evolution patterns among these EPEs types.