The responses of the East Asian Trough (EAT) to the Kuroshio Extension (KE) interannual fluctuation and the underlying mechanisms in the boreal winter are investigated through the lag regression approach in this study. When the KE is in the stable state, the sea surface temperature (SST) front is strengthened, with cold (warm) SST anomaly in the western (eastern) region of the KE, releasing less (more) heat into the atmosphere. The opposite patterns hold for the KE unstable periods. The analysis of the observations shows that the stable KE corresponds to a deeper EAT, accompanied with a stronger winter monsoon over Mongolia and northeastern China. The atmospheric Rossby waves, transient eddies, and thermal winds are found to be responsible for this relationship between the KE and EAT. The SST warming in the lower reaches of the KE excites the Rossby wave activity that propagates toward East Asia, leading to 25% of the EAT amplification. Meanwhile, influenced by the KE-induced Rossby waves, the background baroclinicity is intensified over Japan, which enhances the transient eddy activity, contributing to another 42% magnitude of the EAT deepening. In addition, as depicted by the thermal wind theory, the strong SST cooling in the upper branch of the KE forces an anomalous cyclonic circulation through modifying the meridional temperature gradient, facilitating the EAT development. The finding points to the better understandings of the EAT and associated East Asian winter climate variability, which are crucial for their major economic and social impacts on the large populations in the region.

Sea fog can lead to inland fog on the southern China coast, affecting visibility on land. To better understand how such fog influences inland visibility, we observed two sea-fog cases at three sites (over sea, at coast, and inland) and analyzed the results here. Our analysis suggests four factors may be key: (1) The synoptic pattern is the decisive factor determining whether fog forms inland. First, sea fog and low clouds form when the synoptic pattern involves warm, moist air moving from a warmer sea-surface temperature (SST) region to a colder SST region near the coast. Then, inland fog tends to occur under this low-cloud background with relatively large horizontal-vapor transport. A greater horizontal-vapor transport results in denser fog with higher liquid-water content. Conversely, a strong horizontal advection of temperature with less horizontal-vapor transport can hinder inland-fog formation. (2) Local cooling (including ground radiative cooling) helps promote inland fog formation. (3) Fog formation requires low wind speed and small turbulent kinetic energy (TKE). The small TKE helps the vapor accumulate close to the surface and maintain the local cooling effect. (4) Fog formation is promoted by having the energy flux downward at night with the land surface cooling the atmosphere as well as having lower soil temperature and higher soil humidity.

Global warming has been altering the East Asian climate at an unprecedented rate since the 20th century. In order to evaluate the changes in the East Asian winter climate (EAWC) and support policy-making for climate mitigation and adaptation strategies, this paper utilizes the multimodel ensemble from the Couple Model Intercomparison Project 6 and a temperature threshold method to investigate the EAWC changes during the period 1979–2100. The results show that the EAWC has been undergoing widespread and robust changes in response to global warming. The winter length in East Asia has shortened and will continue shortening owing to later onsets and earlier withdrawals, leading to a drastic contraction in length from 100 days in 1979 to 43 days (27 days) in 2100 under SSP2-4.5 (SSP5-8.5). While most regions of the East Asian continent are projected to become warmer in winter, the Japan and marginal seas of northeastern Asia will face the risks from colder winters with more frequent extreme cold events, accompanied by less precipitation. Meanwhile, the Tibetan Plateau is very likely to have colder winters in the future, though its surface snow amounts will significantly decline. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are found to be responsible for the EAWC changes. GHG traps heat inside the Earth’s atmosphere and notably increases the air temperature; moreover, its force modulates large-scale atmospheric circulation, facilitating an enhanced and northward-positioned Aleutian low together with a weakened Siberian high, East Asian trough, and East Asian jet stream. These two effects work together, resulting in a contracted winter with robust and uneven regional changes in the EAWC. This finding highlights the urgency of curbing GHG emissions and improving forecasts of the EAWC, which are crucial for mitigating their major ecological and social impacts.

In August 2018, tropical cyclone (TC) Yagi rapidly intensified as it passed over an oceanic mesoscale anticyclonic eddy (eddy) in the East China Sea, increasing in TC intensity from a tropical storm to a severe tropical storm. The maximum surface wind speed increase (minimum sea level pressure decrease) of Yagi over sea surface temperature (SST) warm anomalies caused by the eddy accounted for 66.7% (36.4%) of the whole case. Regional atmospheric model experiments are conducted to aid the interpretations of the case of Yagi intensifying over the eddy. Model results indicate that the SST warm anomalies caused by the eddy increase and concentrate the heat flux transported from the ocean to the atmosphere, and the upper air warms up, which is conducive to the development of convection. As a result, the contribution of the eddy to TC enhancement is over 20% in the period over the eddy and the precipitation is more concentrated at the TC center. The model further showed that the eddy affects the TC, resulting in more favorable dynamic and thermal conditions around the TC after landfall for the formations of TC tornadoes.