Formation, Thermodynamic Structure, and Airflow of a Japan Sea Polar Airmass Convergence Zone

Abstract

The Sea of Japan (SOJ) coast and adjoining orography of central Honshu, Japan, receive substantial snowfall each winter. A frequent contributor during cold-air outbreaks (CAOs) is the Japan Sea polar airmass convergence zone (JPCZ), which forms downstream of the highland areas of the Korean Peninsula (i.e., the Korean Highlands), extends southeastward to Honshu, and generates a mesoscale band of precipitation. Mesoscale polar vortices (MPVs) ranging in horizontal scale from tens (i.e., meso-β-scale cyclones) to several hundreds of kilometers (i.e., “polar lows”) are also common during CAOs and often interact with the JPCZ. Here we use satellite imagery and Weather Research and Forecasting Model simulations to examine the formation, thermodynamic structure, and airflow of a JPCZ that formed in the wake of an MPV during a CAO from 2 to 7 February 2018. The MPV and its associated warm seclusion and bent-back front developed in a locally warm, convergent, and convective environment over the SOJ near the base of the Korean Peninsula. The nascent JPCZ was structurally continuous with the bent-back front and lengthened as the MPV migrated southeastward. Trajectories illustrate how air–sea interactions and flow splitting around the Korean Highlands and channeling through low passes and valleys along the Asian coast affect the formation and thermodynamic structure of the JPCZ. Contrasts in airmass origin and thermodynamic modification over the SOJ affect the cross-JPCZ temperature gradient, which reverses in sign along the JPCZ from the Asian coast to Honshu. These results provide new insights into the thermodynamic structure of the JPCZ, which is an important contributor to hazardous weather over Japan.