The Large Scale Circulation of the Snow Disaster in Southern China in the Beginning of 2008

This study analyzed the heaviest snowfalls or icy-rainfalls occurring in southern China from January to the beginning of February 2008. The results are summarized as follows: the disaster was induced by the persistent front of warm/cold air masses in southern China, which displayed an interaction between the weather systems in higher and lower latitudes. There was an adjustment for circulation at hemisphere scale during mid January by a variation of sign of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) index from negative to positive. The long lasting precipitation well coincided with a blocking situation centered near 80±E from mid January to the beginning of February. A diagnostic analysis indicates that stationary waves with an energy dispersion accompanying the blocking high propagated from upstream region in high latitudes to the south of the Yangtze River, which formed a maintaining energy source for the cyclonic circulation in situ. This resulted in that the large mass of cold air in high latitudes could not easily invade into the south but slowly shifted southward. On the other hand, the sea surface temperature (SST) over the warm pool of the western Pacific increased with a new history record due to the effect of the strong La Niena episode, which also blocked the cold air mass from the north. The blocking high collapsed around 30 January and the energy source for the local cyclonic circulation was cut o?. Thus, the precipitation in southern China ceased after 1 February.