Journal Article

On the Two Successive Supercold Waves Straddling the End of 2020 and the Beginning of 2021

Lin, Dawei, Bueh, Cholaw, Peng, Jingbei, Chen, Bomin

2022

Overview

Two supercold waves straddling 2020 and 2021 successively hit China and caused record-breaking extremely low temperatures. In this study, the distinct features of these two supercold waves are analyzed on the medium-range time scale. The blocking pattern from the Kara Sea to Lake Baikal characterized the first cold wave, while the large-scale tilted ridge and trough over the Asian continent featured the second cold wave. Prior to the cold waves, both the northwest and hyperpolar paths of cold air contributed to a zonally extensive cold air accumulation in the key region of Siberia. This might be the primary reason why strong and extensive supercold waves occur even under the Arctic amplification background. The two cold waves straddling 2020 and 2021 exhibited distinct features: (1) the blocking circulation occurred to the north or the east of the Ural Mountains and was not confined only to the Ural Mountains as it was for the earlier cold waves; (2) the collocation of the Asian blocking pattern and the polar vortex deflection towards East Asia preferred the hyperpolar path of cold air accumulation and the subsequent southward outburst; and (3) both high- and low-frequency processes worked in concert, leading to the very intense cold waves. The cold air advance along the northwest path, which coincides with the southeastward intrusion of the Siberian High (SH) front edge, is associated with the high-frequency process, while the cold air movement along the hyperpolar path, which is close to the eastern edge of the SH, is controlled by the low-frequency process.

• Publisher: Science Press,Springer Nature B.V,International Center for Climate and Environment Sciences,Institute of Atmospheric Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100029,China%State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather(LASW)& Key Laboratory for Cloud Physics of China MeteorologicalAdministration,Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences,Beijing 100081,China%Shanghai Climate Center,Shanghai 200030,China
• Subject: Accumulation / Air / Atmospheric Sciences / Blocking patterns / Cold / Cold waves / Earth and Environmental Science / Earth Sciences / Extreme Cold Events from East Asia to North America in Winter 2020/21 / Geophysics/Geodesy / Lakes / Low temperature / Meteorology / Mountains / Original Paper / Polar vortex / Siberian High / Waves