The 10 Most Influential Heavy Rain Events in China in 2022: Selection and Evaluation

In 2022, a campaign to select and recognize 10 most influential heavy rain events (HREs) in China was initiated by the Chinese Meteorological Society and Wuhan Heavy Rain Research Institute of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA). A work flow involving both scientists and the general public for selecting major HREs over the Chinese mainland was implemented, and several evaluation indices that can represent HREs as well as associated causality and economic losses were established, based on which the top 10 most influential HREs in 2022 were recognized and announced to the public. The present paper introduces the selection and evaluation process and summarizes the main results. It is found that 38 major HREs occurred in South, North, and Northeast China in 2022, with the Pearl River basin and Songliao basin experiencing severe floods. A number of HREs occurred in Southwest China with high rainfall intensity, but small cumulative amount. Upper-level troughs, low vortices, low-level jets, low-level shear lines, the subtropical high, and typhoons are the main weather systems leading to the top 10 most influential HREs in 2022. Selection and evaluation of HREs form a quantitative record of major HREs, help concentrate limited research efforts on investigating the causes of major HREs, and promote the improvement of HRE forecasting skills.