Premium
Land–Sea Contrast in the Diurnal Variation of Precipitation from Landfalling Tropical Cyclones
Author(s) -
Tang Xiaodong,
Cai Qichao,
Fang Juan,
Tan ZheMin
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1029/2019jd031454
Subject(s) - environmental science , precipitation , morning , tropical cyclone , climatology , atmospheric sciences , diurnal cycle , evening , shore , wind speed , meteorology , oceanography , geology , geography , medicine , physics , astronomy
Recent composite analysis of landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) suggests a rain rate peak in the early morning, which contradicts the typically observed peak in convective precipitation over land seen in the late afternoon to early evening. We conducted a set of idealized simulations of TCs and analyzed observational data from TC Bebinca (2018), which stalled near the shoreline of southern China. We show a distinct land–sea contrast in the diurnal variation of TC precipitation and an 8–12 hr offset between the peak precipitation time over land compared with that over the sea in a TC that stalls at the shoreline. The highest land surface temperature and maximum low‐level buoyancy during the afternoon led to peak precipitation over land at this time. However, the peak precipitation over the sea in the early morning was generated by the increase in relative humidity caused by nighttime radiative cooling and enhanced instability.