Relationship between western North Pacific typhoon activity and Tibetan Plateau winter and spring snow cover

Abstract

The annual frequency of western North Pacific (WNP) typhoons and the number of landfall typhoons in China are shown to negatively correlate with the Tibetan Plateau snow cover (TP-SC) during the preceding winter and spring. When TP-SC was above normal, fewer typhoons formed in the WNP and made landfall in China, and vice versa. The observed seasonal lag correlation between the TP-SC and the WNP typhoon activity suggests the existence of a seasonal memory of the East Asia - West Pacific regional climate system which provides a means for the seasonal prediction of WNP typhoon activity and typhoon landfall frequency in China. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.