A Southward Migration of Centennial-Scale Variations of Drought/Flood in Eastern China and the Western United States

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Abstract
Several studies of the established warm season climate records for eastern China (1470–1997) showed alternating dry and wet periods at centennial scales. The spatial patterns show that when a dry condition or drought was observed in southern China, a wet or flood situation was found in the northern part of eastern China and vice versa. These patterns suggest a meridional variation of the centennial-scale wet/dry anomalies. This study analyzed the same data and showed that the dry and wet anomalies initially appeared in the northern part of eastern China and then migrated southward to affect the low latitudes. An extension of this analysis to the United States revealed a similar southward migration of dry/wet anomalies that first developed in the high latitudes in the western part of the country. The average speed of the migrations in both areas is about 3.0° of latitude per 10 years. The results suggest that mechanisms in mid- and high latitudes may play critical roles in the development of droug... Abstract Several studies of the established warm season climate records for eastern China (1470–1997) showed alternating dry and wet periods at centennial scales. The spatial patterns show that when a dry condition or drought was observed in southern China, a wet or flood situation was found in the northern part of eastern China and vice versa. These patterns suggest a meridional variation of the centennial-scale wet/dry anomalies. This study analyzed the same data and showed that the dry and wet anomalies initially appeared in the northern part of eastern China and then migrated southward to affect the low latitudes. An extension of this analysis to the United States revealed a similar southward migration of dry/wet anomalies that first developed in the high latitudes in the western part of the country. The average speed of the migrations in both areas is about 3.0° of latitude per 10 years. The results suggest that mechanisms in mid- and high latitudes may play critical roles in the development of droug...

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