Diagnosis of atmospheric processes from a local perspective for the western North Pacific summer monsoon onset

Abstract The climatological western North Pacific summer monsoon onset, so called convection jump, occurs around 41th pentad, corresponding to an abrupt northeastward extension of strong convection. This study investigates the process of convection jump from a local perspective. Composite analyses are performed based on the onset dates that are identified in individual years. The results show that the convective inhibition (CIN) decreases dramatically around the onset dates, while the convective available potential energy (CAPE) reaches its maximum long before the onset, suggesting that the CIN, rather than CAPE, plays a dominant role in triggering convection. Further analysis indicates that the reduction of CIN is induced by the increased low-lever relative humidity, which is the result of enhanced water vapor convergence. The moisture transportation is primarily contributed by the wind transfer from easterlies to southeasterlies or southerlies along the southern boundary of convection jump region, in accordance with the monsoon trough establishment. The present observational results may be used to evaluate climate models in simulating stepwise evolution of summer monsoon.