An atypical cold vortex structure and its precipitation over Northeast China based on Cloudsat detection

ERA-Interim reanalysis meteorological data,black body temperature data,Cloudsat cloud profiling radar data and rainfall data are comprehensively utilized to study the weather process of a cold vortex over Northeast China and reproduce its three-dimensional structure and evolution from June 10 to June 12,2009.The result shows that Northeast Asia lay between the northern trough and southern trough before that weather system,then the northern trough developed equatorward and was cut off to form a cold vortex over Northeast China.The cold vortex with southern trough background has a special structure.At the early stage of development,strong cold air concentrated in the northwest quadrant,and warm and moist air was in the northeast quadrant,the relatively neutral air lay in the south of the cold vortex,which resulted in the strong northern warm front and the weak western cold front.The narrow cold tongue rapidly intruded southward and convective precipitation occurred ahead of the cold front.At the late stage of development,precipitation mainly occurred on warm front.When the cold vortex matured,convergence was strengthened and the shallow convective precipitation occurred at the center.No occluded front appeared in all the stages of the cold vortex.