Classification of Flood-Triggering Precipitation Events and Zoning of Flood HazardsA Case Study of the Wuchengxiyu RegionTaihu Lake Basin 

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  • 1. Jiangsu Climate CenterNanjing 210041JiangsuChina
    2. Jintan National Climatological ObservatoryJintan 213200JiangsuChina
    3. Jiangsu Meteorological Information CentreNanjing 210041JiangsuChina

Online published: 2026-03-30

Abstract

The classification of regional flood-triggering precipitation and the zoning of flood hazards are essential approaches for urban flood prevention and drainage. This study focuses on the Wuchengxiyu Region within the Taihu Lake Basinutilizing precipitation data from 1967 to 2021 collected from four national meteorological stationsWuxiChangzhouJiangyinand Zhangjiagang),along with historical Meiyu and typhoon data seriesto classify flood-triggering precipitation events. By integrating daily water level data from hydrological stations such as Wuxi and Changzhoua hydrodynamic model was employed with a combined scenario method to simulate flood risk. A total of 1183 days of flood-triggering precipitation were identifiedexhibiting two dis‐ tinct monthly distribution patternsthe frequencies at ChangzhouJiangyinand Zhangjiagang were the highest in Julyfollowed by August and Junewhile at Wuxi Station the frequencies decreased sequentially from June to Augustwith the peak occurring one month earlier than at the other three stations. Eighty-seven joint flood-trig‐gering precipitation events were identified across the four stations. Using the temporal overlap methodthese events were classified into 30 Meiyu-type16 typhoon-type4 typhoon-Meiyu combined typeand 37 othertype events. Their temporal distributions showed approximately unimodal normalbimodalleft-skewed unimodaland right-skewed unimodal patternsrespectively. The cumulative flood-triggering precipitation amountsfrom highest to lowestwere other-typeMeiyu-typetyphoon-typeand typhoon-Meiyu combined type. The spatial distributions of the four flood-triggering precipitation types differed significantlyexcept for the typhoontypewhich had its high-value zone in Wuxithe other three types exhibited low-value zones in Wuxi. Based on two key stages of urbanization in 2010 and 2020coupled with the four flood-triggering precipitation typestwo spatial distribution weighting schemesthree levels of external inflow impactand two drainage capacity levels96 storm flood inundation scenarios were simulated for the Wuchengxiyu Region. The main conclusions are as follows:(1High-risk zonescorresponding to Level 1are concentrated along rivers and their bankswith their areal proportionmeanand standard deviation increasing with greater precipitation weighting;(2After accounting for major land use typesdrainage measures can reduce the proportion of high-risk zones on artificial surfaces by 2. 65%-23. 78%;(3Liangxi District of Wuxi exhibits the highest proportion of high-risk zones on artificial surfaces among all districtscities),which may be attributed to the earlier peak month of flood-trigger‐ing precipitation in Wuxi and its topographical feature of "higher in the south and lower in the north"followed by Tianning District of Changzhou and Zhangjiagang of Suzhou;(4Topography and land use types are key fac‐ tors controlling inundation outcomeswhile differences in high-risk zone distributions are associated with floodtriggering typesweighting schemesand drainage measures. This study can provide a decision-making basis and context for watershed-regional-urban flood prevention and drainagecontributing to the coordinated development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Yangtze River Delta integration.

Cite this article

MIAO Qian, YANG Jie, ZHANG Lingling, SUN Jiali, WANG Ning, ZHANG Xuerong, CHENG Ting, XIE Zhiqing, XU Meng . Classification of Flood-Triggering Precipitation Events and Zoning of Flood HazardsA Case Study of the Wuchengxiyu RegionTaihu Lake Basin [J]. Plateau Meteorology, 0 : 1 . DOI: 10.7522/j.issn.1000-0534.2025.00104

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