Spatial and temporal characteristics of various cold surges over China during 1962–2018

Abstract

The cold surge (CS) is an extreme climate event that frequently affects China. By using a 0.25 × 0.25 gridded observation dataset provided by the China Meteorological Administration (CN05.1), this paper investigates the spatialtemporal characteristics of various CSs in China during 1962-2018. According to the duration and coverage area (CA), CSs are classified into the short-lived cold surges (SLCSs), the persistent cold surges (PCSs) and the extensive and persistent cold surges (EPCSs). They are also divided into the weak cold surges (WCSs), the strong cold surges (SCSs) and the super strong cold surges (SSCSs) based on the temperature drop (ΔT). The extreme cold surges (ECSs) are also defined and occur 38 times over 57 years. The total CSs and various CSs all display patterns of higher frequencies in the northeast and lower frequencies in the southwest. Northeast China and Inner Mongolia are frequently hit by various CSs, but the frequencies show overall downward trends in the regions during 1962-2018. The ΔT of the total CSs and ECSs both show significant decreasing trends in the whole of China from 1962 to 2018. From 1962 to 2018, the annual frequency and the ΔT of the total CSs both show decreasing trends. SLCSs and WCSs frequencies show overall increasing trends, but other kinds of CSs show overall decreasing trends. The annual frequencies of the total CSs and various CSs all have trend abrupt changes around 2000. The ΔT of ECSs shows a sharply increasing trend during 1962-2018. The total CSs and all kinds of CSs frequencies have a significant periodic oscillation. ECSs occur most in February. The total CSs and other kinds of CSs occur most in January. There are obvious differences between the multiyear average ECSs frequencies before 2000 and after 2000.

Sources and paths of extreme cold surges over China and their associated atmospheric circulations

“…The ECS paths sourced near Scandinavia (labelled S‐type) were more complex and needed to be further classified according to the locations of entry. The S‐type ECSs entering China from the east (east of the 115°E), middle (95–115°E) and west (west of 95°E) were further divided into S1‐type, S2‐type and S3‐type ECSs (Ma et al, 2022a, 2022b; Song and Yan, 2022; Figure 2).…”

“…The ECS paths sourced near Scandinavia (labelled S-type) were more complex and needed to be further classified according to the locations of entry. The S-type ECSs entering China from the east (east of the 115 E), middle (95-115 E) and west (west of 95 E) were further divided into S1-type, S2-type and S3-type ECSs (Ma et al, 2022a(Ma et al, , 2022bSong and Yan, 2022; Figure 2). ECS is defined as the maximum value of the maximum daily temperature drop among all involved grid points from the start date to the end date of the ECS.…”

“…In early 2008, a massive ice storm struck southern and central China, resulting in 129 deaths (Zhou et al, 2011). Meanwhile, global warming cannot stop or reduce the occurrence of cold surges, either now or in the future (Kim et al, 2014; Ma et al, 2022a, 2022b; Zhu et al, 2019). Kim and Ahn (2022) indicated that the likelihood of sudden occurrences of cold surges is increasing.…”

“…Previous studies have suggested that CS events have different characteristics and possible causes (Hong & Li, 2009;Liao et al, 2020). Several researchers have devoted research efforts to classifying extreme cold events according to a variety of standards, and based on these standards, the differences between different cold-surge types have been explored (Ma et al, 2022a(Ma et al, , 2022bPeng et al, 2021;Peng and Bueh, 2011;Park et al, 2014).…”

Social-economic transitions and vulnerability to extreme temperature events from 1960 to 2020 in Chinese cities

“…Notably, there are significant spatial disparities in the intensity of heatwaves and cold spells and their effects in China, considering the geography, climatic characteristics, and economic development differences. 27 , 28 , 29 Some studies observe that cities located in southern China receives a more significant health burden from cold spells 26 while the those located in eastern and southern China are more severely affected by heatwaves. 30 Therefore, it is imperative to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of the health economic impacts associated with heatwaves and extreme cold in China stemming from the uneven economic development of different regions.…”