Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Numerical Study of the Rainfall Event due to the Interaction of Typhoon Babs (1998) and the Northeasterly Monsoon

Chun-Chieh Wu Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Search for other papers by Chun-Chieh Wu in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
,
Kevin K. W. Cheung Climate Risk Concentration of Research Excellence, and Department of Environment and Geography, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Search for other papers by Kevin K. W. Cheung in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
, and
Ya-Yin Lo Department of Atmospheric Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Search for other papers by Ya-Yin Lo in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Print Publication:
01 Jul 2009
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/2009MWR2757.1
Page(s):
2049–2064
Restricted access

Abstract

A heavy rainfall event in the Taiwan area associated with the interaction between Typhoon Babs (1998) and the East Asia winter monsoon is studied. Typhoon Babs is a case in point demonstrating the often-observed phenomenon that heavy rainfall can be induced in the eastern and/or northeastern region of Taiwan. Such heavy rainfall was caused by the joint convergent flow associated with the outer circulation of typhoons and the strengthening northeasterly monsoon in late typhoon season, even though Babs remained distant from Taiwan when it moved through the island of Luzon in the Philippines and stayed over the South China Sea. This heavy rainfall event is simulated in this study using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU–NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5) with three nested domains and a highest horizontal resolution of 6.67 km. The control experiments with Kain–Fritsch cumulus parameterization perform well in terms of both simulated track and intensity. The 20-km resolution simulation reproduces the correct rainfall distribution during the three days studied, and the fine domain with 6.67-km resolution further improves the maximum simulated rainfall to very close to the observations. A series of sensitivity experiments that include model physics, terrain effect, typhoon vortex structure, and monsoon strength is performed, aiming at investigating the predictability of this typhoon–monsoon–terrain system when some of its components are perturbed. The rainfall event is analyzed based on two rainfall modes of different dominant mechanisms: monsoon mode during 0000 UTC 24–25 October and topographic mode during 0000 UTC 25–26 October. Removal of the Taiwan terrain in one of the sensitivity experiments results in completely different rainfall distribution due to the lack of the convection by orographic lifting, and the terrain is also found to play a key role in changing the low-level convergence pattern between the typhoon circulation and monsoonal northeasterlies. When the radius of the bogus vortex is reduced, the cold front to the north migrates southward in a faster pace than in the control simulation, and rain rate at the front also increases such that total accumulated rainfall at northern Taiwan is comparable with that in the control simulation but with shifted maximum position. In the extreme case in which no bogus vortex is implanted at all, rainfall is mainly associated with evolution of the cold front (pure frontal mode). In addition, a technique is developed to modify the monsoon strength over China. It is found that low-level (1000–700 hPa) reduction in monsoon strength weakens interaction with the typhoon, and rain distribution remains the same as in the control simulation. However, the simulated typhoon track is considerably sensitive to the deep-layer (1000–300 hPa) monsoon strength.

Corresponding author address: Chun-Chieh Wu, Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan. Email: cwu@typhoon.as.ntu.edu.tw

Abstract

A heavy rainfall event in the Taiwan area associated with the interaction between Typhoon Babs (1998) and the East Asia winter monsoon is studied. Typhoon Babs is a case in point demonstrating the often-observed phenomenon that heavy rainfall can be induced in the eastern and/or northeastern region of Taiwan. Such heavy rainfall was caused by the joint convergent flow associated with the outer circulation of typhoons and the strengthening northeasterly monsoon in late typhoon season, even though Babs remained distant from Taiwan when it moved through the island of Luzon in the Philippines and stayed over the South China Sea. This heavy rainfall event is simulated in this study using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU–NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5) with three nested domains and a highest horizontal resolution of 6.67 km. The control experiments with Kain–Fritsch cumulus parameterization perform well in terms of both simulated track and intensity. The 20-km resolution simulation reproduces the correct rainfall distribution during the three days studied, and the fine domain with 6.67-km resolution further improves the maximum simulated rainfall to very close to the observations. A series of sensitivity experiments that include model physics, terrain effect, typhoon vortex structure, and monsoon strength is performed, aiming at investigating the predictability of this typhoon–monsoon–terrain system when some of its components are perturbed. The rainfall event is analyzed based on two rainfall modes of different dominant mechanisms: monsoon mode during 0000 UTC 24–25 October and topographic mode during 0000 UTC 25–26 October. Removal of the Taiwan terrain in one of the sensitivity experiments results in completely different rainfall distribution due to the lack of the convection by orographic lifting, and the terrain is also found to play a key role in changing the low-level convergence pattern between the typhoon circulation and monsoonal northeasterlies. When the radius of the bogus vortex is reduced, the cold front to the north migrates southward in a faster pace than in the control simulation, and rain rate at the front also increases such that total accumulated rainfall at northern Taiwan is comparable with that in the control simulation but with shifted maximum position. In the extreme case in which no bogus vortex is implanted at all, rainfall is mainly associated with evolution of the cold front (pure frontal mode). In addition, a technique is developed to modify the monsoon strength over China. It is found that low-level (1000–700 hPa) reduction in monsoon strength weakens interaction with the typhoon, and rain distribution remains the same as in the control simulation. However, the simulated typhoon track is considerably sensitive to the deep-layer (1000–300 hPa) monsoon strength.

Corresponding author address: Chun-Chieh Wu, Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 106, Taiwan. Email: cwu@typhoon.as.ntu.edu.tw

Save
Cover Monthly Weather Review
Monthly Weather Review

  • Anthes, R. A., 1977: A cumulus parameterization scheme utilizing a one-dimensional cloud model. Mon. Wea. Rev., 105 , 270–286.

  • ATCR, 1987: Annual Tropical Cyclone Report. Joint Typhoon Warning Center, 218 pp.

  • ATCR, 1998: Annual Tropical Cyclone Report. Joint Typhoon Warning Center, 211 pp.

  • Bender, M. A., R. E. Tuleya, and Y. Kurihara, 1987: A numerical study of the effect of island terrain on tropical cyclones. Mon. Wea. Rev., 115 , 130–155.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Betts, A. K., and M. J. Miller, 1986: A new convective adjustment scheme. Part II: Single column tests using GATE wave, BOMEX, ATEX, and Arctic air-mass data sets. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 112 , 693–709.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Brand, S., and J. W. Blelloch, 1974: Changes in the characteristics of typhoons crossing the island of Taiwan. Mon. Wea. Rev., 102 , 708–713.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Carr III, L. E., and R. L. Elsberry, 1997: Models of tropical cyclone wind distribution and beta-effect propagation for application to tropical cyclone track forecasting. Mon. Wea. Rev., 125 , 3190–3209.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chan, J. C. L., and W. M. Gray, 1982: Tropical cyclone movement and surrounding flow relationships. Mon. Wea. Rev., 110 , 1354–1374.

  • Chang, C. P., T-C. Yeh, and J-M. Chen, 1993: Effects of terrain on the surface structure of typhoons over Taiwan. Mon. Wea. Rev., 121 , 734–752.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chang, S-W., 1982: The orographic effects induced by an island mountain range on propagating tropical cyclones. Mon. Wea. Rev., 110 , 1255–1270.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Cheung, K. K. W., L-R. Huang, and C-S. Lee, 2008: Characteristics of rainfall during tropical cyclone periods in Taiwan. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 8 , 1463–1474.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chien, F-C., Y-C. Liu, and C-S. Lee, 2008: Heavy rainfall and southwesterly flow after the leaving of Typhoon Mindulle (2004) from Taiwan. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 86 , 17–41.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chiao, S., and Y-L. Lin, 2003: Numerical modeling of an orographically enhanced precipitation event associated with Tropical Storm Rachel over Taiwan. Wea. Forecasting, 18 , 325–344.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dudhia, J., 1989: Numerical study of convection observed during the Winter Monsoon Experiment using a mesoscale two-dimensional model. J. Atmos. Sci., 46 , 3077–3107.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Grell, G. A., J. Dudhia, and D. R. Stauffer, 1995: A description of the fifth-generation Penn State/NCAR mesoscale model (MM5). NCAR Tech. Note, NCAR/TN-398+STR, 138 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Jian, G-J., and C-C. Wu, 2008: A numerical study of the track deflection of super-Typhoon Haitang (2005) prior to its landfall in Taiwan. Mon. Wea. Rev., 136 , 598–615.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kain, J. S., and J. M. Fritsch, 1993: Convective parameterization for mesoscale models: The Kain–Fritsch scheme. The Representation of Cumulus Convection in Numerical Models, Meteor. Monogr., No. 46, Amer. Meteor., Soc., 165–170.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kurihara, Y., M. A. Bender, R. E. Tuleya, and R. J. Ross, 1995: Improvements in the GFDL hurricane prediction system. Mon. Wea. Rev., 123 , 2791–2801.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kuo, H-L., 1974: Further studies of the influence of cumulus convection on large-scale flow. J. Atmos. Sci., 31 , 1232–1240.

  • Lee, C-S., Y-C. Liu, and F-C. Chien, 2008: The secondary low and heavy rainfall associated with Typhoon Mindulle (2004). Mon. Wea. Rev., 136 , 1260–1283.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lin, Y-L., D. B. Ensley, and S. Chiao, 2002: Orographic influences on rainfall and track deflection associated with the passage of a tropical cyclone. Mon. Wea. Rev., 130 , 2929–2950.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lin, Y-L., S-Y. Chen, C. M. Hill, and C-Y. Huang, 2005: Control parameters for the influence of a mesoscale mountain range on cyclone track continuity and deflection. J. Atmos. Sci., 62 , 1849–1866.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lonfat Jr., M., F. D. Marks, and S. S. Chen, 2004: Precipitation distribution in tropical cyclones using the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) microwave imager: A global perspective. Mon. Wea. Rev., 132 , 1645–1660.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Reisner, J. R., M. Rasmussen, and R. T. Bruintjes, 1998: Explicit forecasting of supercooled liquid water in winter storms using the MM5 mesoscale model. Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 124 , 1071–1107.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wu, C-C., 2001: Numerical simulation of Typhoon Gladys (1994) and its interaction with Taiwan terrain using the GFDL hurricane model. Mon. Wea. Rev., 129 , 1533–1549.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wu, C-C., and Y-H. Kuo, 1999: Typhoons affecting Taiwan—Current understanding and future challenges. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 80 , 67–80.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wu, C-C., T-H. Yen, Y-H. Kuo, and W. Wang, 2002: Rainfall simulation associated with Typhoon Herb (1996) near Taiwan. Part I: The topographic effect. Wea. Forecasting, 17 , 1001–1015.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Yeh, T-C., and R. L. Elsberry, 1993a: Interaction of typhoons with the Taiwan orography. Part I: Upstream track deflection. Mon. Wea. Rev., 121 , 3193–3212.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Yeh, T-C., and R. L. Elsberry, 1993b: Interaction of typhoons with the Taiwan orography. Part II: Continuous and discontinuous tracks across the island. Mon. Wea. Rev., 121 , 3213–3233.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 0 0 0
Full Text Views 1906 1107 72
PDF Downloads 435 61 10