Climatology of Different Classifications of Tropical Cyclones Landfalling in Guangdong Province of China during 1951–2020

Abstract

The climatology of different classifications (based on the intensity at the landfall time) of tropical cyclones (TCs) making landfall in Guangdong Province of China during 1951–2020 (70 years) is investigated using the best track data from the China Meteorological Administration and ERA5 reanalysis data. There were 234 TCs making landfall in Guangdong Province, with more severe tropical storms (STSs, 30.8%) and typhoons (TYs, 27.3%), and less tropical depressions (TDs, 19.7%) and tropical storms (TSs, 22.2%) during the past 70 years. The frequency of the landfall TCs had a significant interannual oscillation of 2–5 years. Landfall TCs generated over the western North Pacific (WNP) were usually more and stronger than those generated over the South China Sea (SCS). The TCs generated over the WNP had longer lifetime duration and shorter on-land duration than those generated over the SCS. TCs making landfall in western Guangdong were the most, followed by central Guangdong and eastern Guangdong. The composite analysis using TC-relative coordinates indicated that the precipitation of different classifications of TCs making landfall in Guangdong Province was asymmetric, which was stronger in the south of the TC center. The position of the maximum precipitation showed a cyclonic rotation around the TC center with increasing TC intensity. Generally, the vertical velocity, moisture flux, warm core, and vertical wind shear enhanced with the increasing landfall TC intensity. The vertical velocity and moisture flux of different classifications of TCs also showed an asymmetric structure related to the distribution of TC precipitation. TSs, STSs, and TYs had a double warm-core configuration. The precipitation of the TDs and TSs usually occurred over the down-shear of average vertical wind shear, those of the STSs and TYs over the left-of-shear.