Climatological features of strong winds caused by extratropical cyclones around Japan

Abstract

We examined the climatological features of strong winds associated with extratropical cyclones around Japan during 40 seasons between November and April from 1979/80 to 2018/19 using reanalysis data. Our assessments revealed that the extratropical cyclones caused most of the strong winds around Japan (80%–90%). Notably, the contribution of explosively developing extratropical cyclones is larger (70%–80%). The strong winds are mainly related to the warm conveyor belt (WCB) and cold conveyor belt (CCB) inside the explosive cyclones. Moreover, the strong winds tend to be distributed widely over the southwestern quadrant of the cyclones. This is due to the intensification of the horizontal pressure gradient between the mature cyclones and the Siberian high extending from the Eurasian continent to Japan. We investigated the regionality of strong winds by highlighting the three areas with high frequencies of strong winds: the area around Hokkaido (i.e., the northernmost island of Japan; area A), and the areas around the Japan Sea side (area B) and the Pacific Ocean side (area C) of the main island of Japan. The features of the seasonal change in the frequency of the strong winds differ in each area, which reflects the seasonal change in the activities of the explosive cyclones. Moreover, the CCB, the head of the CCB and WCB, and the CCB and WCB bring the strong winds to areas A, B, and C, respectively. The timing of the appearance of these windstorms during the life cycles of typical cases highlighted in this study is consistent with that observed in Europe.