Subseasonal processes of triple extreme heatwaves over the Yangtze River Valley in 2022

Abstract

Historical extreme heatwaves struck the Yangtze River Valley (YRV) in the boreal summer of 2022, severely impacting agricultural production, electricity supply, and resident health in China. This study shows that extreme heatwaves recurred over the YRV with distinct subseasonal processes. In early summer, from 14 June to 18 July, two extreme heatwaves were embedded in a mid-latitude 10–25-day intraseasonal oscillation (ISO), and hot-and-wet anomalies persisted over the YRV. A self-sustaining mechanism between the “cold vortex” over Northeast China and the “heat dome” around the YRV maintained this bi-weekly ISO. It fueled the heatwaves by modulating the meridional advection of upper-tropospheric potential vorticity, which firstly warmed the air via adiabatic processes and then later by diabatic heating. In late summer, from 30 July to 29 August, a 30–50-day ISO impacted the heatwave and drought over the YRV. This ISO originated from monsoon convection in the tropics, which regulated the meridional monsoonal circulation and enhanced the heatwave by intensifying the descending air motion and adiabatic heating over the YRV. The alternation of the two ISOs accompanied the northward migration of the subtropical westerly jet over East Asia. The combination of the above-normal 10–25-day ISO and the moderate 30–50-day ISO led to the three consecutive extreme YRV heatwaves in 2022.

Keywords

• Historical summer heatwaves
• East China
• Subseasonal processes
• Maintenance mechanisms