Relative Roles of Intraseasonal and Above-seasonal Components in the South China Sea Summer Monsoon Onset

Multi-scale contributions are involved in the South China Sea (SCS) summer monsoon (SCSSM) onset process. The relative roles of intraseasonal oscillation and above-seasonal component in the year-to-year variation of the SCSSM onset are evaluated in this study. The 30-90-day and above-90-day components are major contributors to the year-to-year variation of the SCSSM onset, and the former contributes greater portion, while the 8-30-day component has little contribution to the onset. In the early onset cases, the 30-90-day westerly winds move and extend eastward from the tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) to the SCS monsoon region relatively earlier, and replace the easterly winds over the SCS with the cooperation of the 30-90-day cyclone moving southward from northern East Asia. The westerly anomalies of the above-90-day component in spring jointly contribute to the early SCSSM onset. In the late onset cases, the late eastward expansion of 30-90-day westerly wind over the TIO, accompanied by the late occurrence and weakening of the 30-90-day anticyclone over the SCS, and its late withdraw from the SCS, as well as the persistent easterly anomalies of above-90-day component, suppress the SCSSM onset. However, the SCSSM outbreaks in the obvious weakening stage of 30-90-day easterly anomalies. The easterlies-to-westerlies transition of the 30-90-day 850hPa zonal wind over the SCS in spring is closely associated with sea surface temperature in the tropical western Pacific in preceding winter and spring, while the interannual variation of the above-90-day zonal wind in April-May is closely related to the decaying stage of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation events.