Air–sea interactions amplified by tropical cyclones break the South China Sea summer monsoon

Abstract Summer monsoon breaks can have far-reaching impacts by triggering abnormal weather both locally and remotely. However, their formation mechanisms remain incompletely understood, with intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) widely recognized as a primary driver. This study investigates South China...

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Main Authors: Minghao Bi, Ke Xu, Riyu Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-05-01
Series:npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01035-7
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author Minghao Bi
Ke Xu
Riyu Lu
author_facet Minghao Bi
Ke Xu
Riyu Lu
author_sort Minghao Bi
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Summer monsoon breaks can have far-reaching impacts by triggering abnormal weather both locally and remotely. However, their formation mechanisms remain incompletely understood, with intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) widely recognized as a primary driver. This study investigates South China Sea monsoon break events and finds that 72.9% originate from the Philippine Sea, associated with ISOs, while the residual 27.1% are locally generated, which have yet to be elucidated previously. Our results suggest that these locally generated events are often preceded by anomalously active tropical cyclones, which amplify in situ air–sea interaction, inducing SST cooling that increases large-scale atmospheric stability, thereby promoting monsoon break establishment. Moreover, differing from ISO-related monsoon breaks that increase precipitation over the Yangtze River Valley, locally generated breaks induce significant warming over South China. The diverse mechanisms and climate impacts of monsoon breaks revealed in this study may provide new insights for further improvement of subseasonal predictions.
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spelling doaj-art-04da1d20a1654003a9054dae92633cc22025-08-20T02:55:31ZengNature Portfolionpj Climate and Atmospheric Science2397-37222025-05-01811810.1038/s41612-025-01035-7Air–sea interactions amplified by tropical cyclones break the South China Sea summer monsoonMinghao Bi0Ke Xu1Riyu Lu2State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of SciencesCollege of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Summer monsoon breaks can have far-reaching impacts by triggering abnormal weather both locally and remotely. However, their formation mechanisms remain incompletely understood, with intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) widely recognized as a primary driver. This study investigates South China Sea monsoon break events and finds that 72.9% originate from the Philippine Sea, associated with ISOs, while the residual 27.1% are locally generated, which have yet to be elucidated previously. Our results suggest that these locally generated events are often preceded by anomalously active tropical cyclones, which amplify in situ air–sea interaction, inducing SST cooling that increases large-scale atmospheric stability, thereby promoting monsoon break establishment. Moreover, differing from ISO-related monsoon breaks that increase precipitation over the Yangtze River Valley, locally generated breaks induce significant warming over South China. The diverse mechanisms and climate impacts of monsoon breaks revealed in this study may provide new insights for further improvement of subseasonal predictions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01035-7
spellingShingle Minghao Bi
Ke Xu
Riyu Lu
Air–sea interactions amplified by tropical cyclones break the South China Sea summer monsoon
npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
title Air–sea interactions amplified by tropical cyclones break the South China Sea summer monsoon
title_full Air–sea interactions amplified by tropical cyclones break the South China Sea summer monsoon
title_fullStr Air–sea interactions amplified by tropical cyclones break the South China Sea summer monsoon
title_full_unstemmed Air–sea interactions amplified by tropical cyclones break the South China Sea summer monsoon
title_short Air–sea interactions amplified by tropical cyclones break the South China Sea summer monsoon
title_sort air sea interactions amplified by tropical cyclones break the south china sea summer monsoon
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01035-7
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