Numerical Study of 1998 Late Summer Flood in East Asia

The Purdue Regional Model (PRM) is applied to study the evolution of regional climate and weather systems during the heavy precipitation over Korea and China between 30 July and 18 August 1998. The results show that heavy rainfall along the Mei-yu and Changma front was due to the combination of: (1) an anomalous 850 hPa subtropical high, (2) a stronger baroclinicity around 40 degrees N over eastern Asia and a low pressure located to the north of the front, and (3) an excessive evaporation from abnormal wet, warm land. The precipitation ended by 18 August when the subtropical high had retreated and the low pressure in Mongolia moved away from Asia continent. The model reproduced in great detail the observed baroclinic waves to the north, subtropical high and low-level jet to the south, and the front with heavy precipitation extending from southern China, and the Korean peninsula to Japan. High correlations are found for mass, momentum, and moisture fields between model simulation and the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) reanalysis for the 20-day means.