Analysis of Two Cases of Extremely Severe Snowstorms in Northeast China

  • SUN Yanhui ,
  • LI Zechun ,
  • SHOU Shaowen
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  • Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, China;National Meteorological Center, Beijing 100081, China

Received date: 2016-11-02

  Online published: 2017-04-28

Abstract

Based on data from observations, NCEP/NCAR reanalysis and the WRF simulations, two cases of intense snowstorms with blizzard conditions on 29 April 1983 and on 4 March 2007 in northeast China are investigated, in order to discuss the features of the environment conditions of these violent and persistent snowstorms which occurred over wild areas, and try to make accurate where and when it would occur. Results show, these snowstorms produced by the extensively deepened cyclones, which developed under the left side of the exit region of the southern jet and the right side of the entrance region of the northern jet at 300 hPa level, with the central cyclone sea level pressure drop rates of 1.2 hPa·h-1 (observation) and 0.71 hPa·h-1 (model grids) respectively. Wind shears in the troposphere are very remarkable, wind direction changed in clockwise with height, wind velocity increased with height, there exist an equally velocity layer from 4.5 to 8 km. Airflow divergent in the upper troposphere and convergent in the lower layer, updrafts developed due to the warmer air inflow and pumping caused by the divergence in the upper layer. Heavy snowfall and severe winds occurred at the northern and western parts of the cyclone, 10 min mean northerly surface winds greater than 20.8 m·s-1 occurred about 110 km away northwest of the central cyclone, with a snowfall rate of 20~35 mm·(12h)-1 (liquid water). The surface winds velocity and the snowfall accumulation increased to their highest values rapidly during the period of the sea level pressure dropped most quickly. A mesoscale warm and moist jet closed to the surface was formed at about 300 km away southeast of the central cyclone. Heavy snowfall accompanied by less severe winds of about 10.8~17.2 m·s-1 also presented within areas of 3~5 latitudes away from the cyclone in the northern part, surface winds velocity of most stations derived their maximize values just after the snowfall terminated. The 3D VAPOR visualization of the velocity from the GRIB grids and the WRF simulations show, severe surface winds are connected to the airflow among the two upper-level jets, suggesting that the surface winds energy originated from the upper troposphere aloft.

Cite this article

SUN Yanhui , LI Zechun , SHOU Shaowen . Analysis of Two Cases of Extremely Severe Snowstorms in Northeast China[J]. Plateau Meteorology, 2017 , 36(2) : 549 -561 . DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-0534.2017.00012

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