Role of the Kuroshio Current on the Diurnal Variation of the Early-Summer Meiyu-Baiu Rainband

Mechanism of the strong diurnal cycle of precipitation over the Kuroshio Current (KC) during mid-June is investigated, when the climatological location of the Meiyu-Baiu front overlaps the KC. Heating from the KC intensifies in the morning when the temperature difference between the sea surface and the surface air (TDF) maximizes. The diurnal cycle of precipitation, on the other hand, peaks in the afternoon, consistent with previous studies. It is revealed that convective precipitation (CP) due to convective instability is in phase with TDF, whereas large-scale precipitation (LSP) caused by the cross-frontal circulation matures later. Intensified convective instability via enhanced heating from the KC in the morning hours (03–12 LST) increases the mean amount of CP as well as the probability of stronger CP. Surface wind convergence is also strengthened during the morning hours and helps sustain the convection. The diurnal cycle of LSP, which peaks in the afternoon hours (12–15 LST), covaries with the intensity of the Meiyu-Baiu front and the assocaited cross-frontal circulation. The wind convergence and deformation anomalies associated with the intensified thermal heating over the KC during the morning hours intensifies the frontogenesis function, which leads to the maximization of the frontal intensity in the afternoon. The direct contribution of diabatic heating to the frontogenesis is relatively weak.

Recent decadal enhancement of Meiyu–Baiu heavy rainfall over East Asia

East of Eurasia, moist air is transported poleward, forming the Meiyu–Baiu front over East Asia in late June and early July. Recently, unusually heavy rainfall may have increased, causing catastrophic flooding in East Asia. Here, unique 23-year precipitation satellite radar data confirm recent enhancement in Meiyu–Baiu heavy rainfall from eastern China to southwestern Japan, which is also evident from independent conventional observations. Decadal changes in rainfall have been physically consistent with enhanced transport of water vapour due to the intensified Pacific subtropical high associated with weakened tropical cyclone activity over the Northwest Pacific. Furthermore, the upper-tropospheric trough, associated with wave train along the subtropical jet, influenced Meiyu–Baiu precipitation over East Asia. Long-term and continuous satellite radar observations reveal that the frequency of heavy precipitation along the Meiyu–Baiu front has increased in the last 22 years. In particular, heavy precipitation (10 mm/h) increased by 24% between 1998–2008 and 2009–2019, and the abruptly-changed level likely induced recent meteorological disasters across East Asia. This trend may also explain the severity of the 2020 Meiyu–Baiu season. Over the last decade, this front has likely transitioned to a new climate state, which requires adaptation of disaster prevention approaches.

Raindrop Size Distribution Characteristics for Tropical Cyclones and Meiyu-Baiu Fronts Impacting Tokyo, Japan

Tropical cyclones and meiyu-baiu fronts, as the two main synoptic systems over East Asia, bring heavy rain during summers, but their long-term and vertical raindrop size distribution (RSD) features over the midlatitude Japan Islands are limited. Radar-based quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE) techniques require RSD observations. In this study, five-year observations from Tokyo with a ground-based impact Joss-Waldvogel disdrometer (JWD) and a vertically pointing micro rain radar (MRR) with a vertical range of 0.2–6.0 km were used to study the vertical structures of RSD and QPE parameters. The results showed that the convective rain associated with tropical cyclones had a maritime nature, while the rain associated with the meiyu-baiu front had a continental nature. The rain associated with tropical cyclones had a relatively higher concentration of raindrops and a larger average raindrop diameter than the rain associated with the meiyu-baiu front. The Z–R (radar reflectivity-rain rate) relationships (Z = ARb) based on the JWD data for tropical cyclones, the meiyu-baiu front and total summer rainfall in Tokyo were Z = 189 R1.38, Z = 214 R1.35 and Z = 212 R1.33, respectively. When the Z–R relationships obtained in this study were used to replace the operational relationship of Z = 300 R1.4, the standard deviation of the rain rate was reduced from 5.50 mm/h (2.34 mm/h) to 2.34 mm/h (1.32 mm/h) for typhoon (meiyu-baiu front) rainfall, although the change for total summer rainfall was small. In addition, with increasing height below 4 km, the value of A and b decreased.

A Contrast in Precipitation Characteristics across the Baiu Front near Japan. Part I: TRMM PR Observation

Contrasts in precipitation characteristics across the baiu front are examined with Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar (PR) data near Japan during June–July (1998–2011). The vertical structure of atmospheric stratification differs between the tropics and midlatitudes. On an average, the baiu front is found around the latitude that roughly divides the midlatitude atmosphere from the tropical atmosphere. Precipitation characteristics are compared between the southern and northern sides of the reference latitude of the baiu front, which is detected with equivalent potential temperature at 1000 hPa of 345 K in terms of the boundary between the tropics and midlatitudes. The results show that there are obvious differences in precipitation characteristics between the southern and northern sides. In the south, convective rainfall ratios (CRRs) are 40%–60%, which are larger than those in the north (20%–40%). Greater rainfall intensity and taller/deeper precipitation are also observed in the south. Moreover, the characteristics of precipitation features (PFs), which are contiguous areas of nonzero rainfall, differ between the southern and northern sides. In the north, wide stratiform precipitation systems with CRRs of 0%–40% and heights of 8–11 km are dominant. In the south, organized precipitation systems with heights of 12–14 km and CRRs of 30%–50% and those with very large heights (14–17 km) and CRRs of 50%–80% are dominant in addition to wide stratiform precipitation systems. These results suggest that the mechanisms to bring rainfall are different between the southern and northern regions of the baiu front.