Influence of Okhotsk Sea Ice Distribution on a Snowstorm Associated with an Explosive Cyclone in Hokkaido, Japan

Kawano, Tetsuya; Kawamura, Ryuichi

doi:10.2151/sola.2018-001

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 20 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…This was one of the most explosive cyclones in the vicinity of Japan in the last two decades. As another example, a severe snowstorm disaster due to an explosive cyclone occurred in eastern Hokkaido on March 2, 2013 and caused heavy casualties (Kawano and Kawamura, ). Figure shows inter‐annual variations in the frequencies of strong winds and heavy precipitation in Hokkaido during boreal winter (December, January, and February) based on 22 in situ observation stations in that region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influential role of inter‐decadal explosive cyclone activity on the increased frequency of winter storm events in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan

Tsukijihara

Kawamura

Kawano

2018

Intl Journal of Climatology

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This study examined explosively developing extratropical cyclone activity in the vicinity of Japan in boreal winter from 1979/1980 to 2016/2017 mainly using the Japanese 55‐year Reanalysis data. The in situ observation and reanalysis data revealed increased frequencies of both strong winds and heavy precipitation in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, after the end of the last century, which is consistent with the fact that the cyclones migrating along the Kuroshio Current (KC cyclones) have tended to approach the Hokkaido region in recent years. To examine factors controlling the cyclone track and rapid development, we performed composite analyses of the northwards migrating type (N type) and eastwards migrating type (E type) KC cyclones. In the N‐type cyclone, wave trains prevailed along the polar front and subtropical jets over the Eurasian continent, thereby forming an upper‐level trough (ridge) to the west (east) of the cyclone. An upper‐level divergence accompanied by rapid development of the N‐type cyclone excited wave packets downstream as a Rossby wave source, leading to further reinforcement of the upper‐level ridge east of the cyclone. The anomalous anticyclone with a barotropic nature is capable of forcing the cyclone track to shift northwards. Furthermore, a combination of the N‐type cyclone and the anomalous anticyclone to its east facilitates moisture import into the cyclone system from lower latitudes, contributing to enhanced moisture flux convergence. In reality, diabatic heating in the vicinity of the cyclone centre is larger in the N‐type cyclone than in the E‐type one. It is also suggested that the pronounced Rossby wave propagation along the subtropical jet related to a climate regime shift in the Tropics is responsible for the recent increase in the number of N‐type cyclones.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influential role of inter‐decadal explosive cyclone activity on the increased frequency of winter storm events in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan

Tsukijihara

Kawamura

Kawano

2018

Intl Journal of Climatology

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“…Because highly intensified cyclones tend to stay in the northern sea (Figure 2 b), violent winter storms may continue for a long time, typically several days, as has been frequently observed along the north coast of Hokkaido (e.g. Kitano and Yamada 2016;Kawano and Kawamura 2018).…”

Section: Explosive Cyclones In the Northwest Pacific Oceanmentioning

confidence: 89%

Probabilistic assessment of storm surge potential due to explosive cyclogenesis in the northwest Pacific region

Saruwatari

Fukuhara

Watanabe

2019

Coastal Engineering Journal

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Extratropical cyclones that develop rapidly in the northwest Pacific Ocean, called explosive cyclones, have caused storm surges twice recently along the coast of Nemuro Bay, located in northeastern Japan, in 2014 and 2015. As the number and intensity of explosive cyclones have increased over the last three decades near the Japanese archipelago (Iwao, Inatsu, and Kimoto 2012), the frequency of extreme storm surges is anticipated to increase under future climatic conditions. Explosive cyclones formed in the northwest Pacific region can be categorized into three major types (Yoshida and Asuma 2004) based on their evolution: Type-I cyclones develop over the Sea of Japan and travel toward the Sea of Okhotsk, Type-II are generated on the continent and move toward the Pacific Ocean through the Sea of Japan, and Type-III travel northward in the Pacific Ocean along the Japanese archipelago. We performed computational experiments of past storm surges to find statistical fea-tures of local sea levels, depending on the types of the cyclone evolution under a realistic meteorological scenario of winter cyclones, with aim to provide possible sea level rise expected in the northeast Asia.Here, we show that amplification of local sea level, governed by the orientation of coastal lines with cyclone tracks, is defined by the evolution type that is classified by their trajectories, rather than the intensity, of the cyclone. Nemuro Bay is the most vulnerable site in the northwest Pacific region regardless of the evolution type; thus repeated disasters are anticipated therein. Severe storm surges are also expected along certain other semi-enclosed coasts facing the northern Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk due to Type-I cyclones. The probabilistic evaluation of sea levels depending on the cyclone evolution type as introduced in this study may be useful for evaluating potential disasters.

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“…Explosive cyclones on 17-18 December developed over the Pacific further north and east of Japan. There are other examples of snowstorms in Japan that can be linked to arrivals of HSS/CIRs, such as a severe snowstorm caused by an explosive cyclone in Hokkaido [43] that coincided with the arrival of a major HSS/CIR on 1 March 2013 (Figure S1 in Supplementary Materials).…”

Section: High-rate Precipitation Events In Japan and Solar Wind High-speed Streamsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-Rate Precipitation Occurrence Modulated by Solar Wind High-Speed Streams

2021

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Extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall causing floods and flash floods continue to present difficult challenges in forecasting. Using gridded daily precipitation datasets in conjunction with solar wind data it is shown that high-rate precipitation occurrence is modulated by solar wind high-speed streams. Superposed epoch analysis shows a statistical increase in the occurrence of high-rate precipitation following arrivals of high-speed streams from coronal holes, including their recurrence with the solar rotation period of 27 days. These results are consistent with the observed tendency of heavy rainfall leading to floods and flash floods in Japan, Australia, and continental United States to follow arrivals of high-speed streams. A possible role of the solar wind–magnetosphere–ionosphere–atmosphere coupling in weather as mediated by globally propagating aurorally excited atmospheric gravity waves triggering conditional moist instabilities leading to convection in the troposphere that has been proposed in previous publications is highlighted.

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Influence of Okhotsk Sea Ice Distribution on a Snowstorm Associated with an Explosive Cyclone in Hokkaido, Japan

Cited by 5 publications

References 20 publications

Influential role of inter‐decadal explosive cyclone activity on the increased frequency of winter storm events in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan

Influential role of inter‐decadal explosive cyclone activity on the increased frequency of winter storm events in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan

Probabilistic assessment of storm surge potential due to explosive cyclogenesis in the northwest Pacific region

High-Rate Precipitation Occurrence Modulated by Solar Wind High-Speed Streams

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