Multiscale drivers of catastrophic heavy rainfall event in early August 2022 in South Korea

Abstract

On 8–11 August 2022, South Korea experienced a catastrophic heavy rainfall event (HRE) with 14 fatalities. To elucidate its driving mechanisms, the present study performs a multiscale analysis by hierarchically delineating the synoptic and large-scale characteristics of the HRE. Its synoptic condition was featured by the confrontation of the western North Pacific subtropical high and the continental cyclone in the north of the Korean Peninsula. At their interface, a tremendous amount of moisture was transported in an elongated shape (i.e., atmospheric river) along with strong frontogenetic activity. This provided a favorable environment for potential instability. The continental cyclone was maintained throughout the HRE period, while a transient cyclone was superposed contributing to more intense rainfall in the early stage of the HRE. This persistent cyclone in the north of the Korean Peninsula originated from a far-upstream-originated cutoff low that became a part of the quasi-stationary wave train along the Asian subtropical jet. A linear model experiment suggests that the quasi-stationary wave train was excited by the enhanced tropical convection related to the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation. The anomalously strong subtropical jet also acted as an effective waveguide. These results suggest that the integration of synoptic and large-scale processes is essential to understand this unprecedented HRE.