Weakened western Pacific teleconnection pattern caused a decrease in spring persistent rainfall in north of 26°N over Southeast China

The spring persistent rainfall (SPR) is a unique synoptic and climatic phenomenon before the onset of the Asian summer monsoon over Southeast China (SEC). The warming climate has caused notable interdecadal changes of various climate systems, such as the Asian summer monsoon. However, it is still unclear whether there is a regime shift within the SPR band. To fill this knowledge gap, the boreal spring (March–May) rainfall data across SEC from the Climate Research Unit TS 4.05 are used herein to reveal its spatio‐temporal variations for 1951–2019 with the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The EOF1 pattern exhibits a spatial monotonic variability of the SPR over SEC, which is jointly impacted by the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation and the Arctic Oscillation. The EOF2 pattern, a south–north dipole pattern, highlights a marked decrease (increase) of the SPR approximately to north (south) of the 26°N. We find that the decrease in the northern SPR band is closely modulated by western Pacific teleconnection pattern (WPP). Recent weakening WPP is coincident with a decline of the East Asian subtropical jet over this area, causing anomalous descending motions and thus accounts for persistent decline of the SPR over north of 26°N. A recent decline in the spring persistent rainfall band in the north of 26°N over Southeast China has occurred since the 2000s, which was caused by the low western Pacific pattern via modulation of the East Asian subtropical jet.