A 5-yr Climatology of Severe Convective Wind Events over China

Abstract

Abstract A method using cloud-to-ground lightning was developed to retrieve severe convective wind (SCW) events from significant weather report data over China during the period 2010–14. The results showed that SCW events were a feature of local weather activity, and their distribution showed clear seasonal and diurnal variations. The SCW events mainly occurred over eastern China during the midafternoon in the warm season and rarely occurred over western China. The highest frequency of SCW events was recorded in north China and Guangdong Province. There was also a high frequency of SCW events in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The most frequent occurrence of SCW events was in Guangdong Province in spring, while a high frequency of SCW events was observed in both north China and Guangdong Province during the summer months. The peak month for SCW events was July over the whole of China and June in north China. The pattern in Guangdong Province had a bimodal distribution, with the peak months being May and August. The majority of SCW events occurred between 1200 and 2000 local time.