Ensembles to model the impact of urbanization for a summertime rainstorm process in Yangtze River Delta, China

The impact of urbanization for a summertime rainstorm process in the Yangtze River Delta was investigated based on two 96 member ensembles using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Results show that the increase of precipitation mainly occurs downwind of the city belt in this region. The increase and decrease of precipitation forms two zigzag belts in the precipitation area. The t‐test illustrates that the discrepancies of near‐surface environment around the city belt, the precipitation downwind of the city belt as well as the atmospheric variables in the lower troposphere over the rain belt, caused by urbanization, is significant in such a short‐term rainstorm process. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society