Rainfall simulation associated with Typhoon Herb (1996) near Taiwan. Part I: The topographic effect

Abstract

In this study, a series of numerical experiments are performed to examine the ability of a high-resolution mesoscale model to predict the track, intensity change, and detailed mesoscale precipitation distributions associated with Typhoon Herb (1996), which made landfall over Taiwan. The fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University-National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5), with a 2.2-km horizontal grid spacing, successfully simulates the mesoscale rainfall distribution associated with Herb, and the predicted maximum 24-h rainfall of 1199 mm accounts for about 70% of the observed amount of 1736 mm at Mount A-Li. It is shown that, with an accurate track simulation, the ability of the model to simulate successfully the observed rainfall is dependent on two factors: the model's horizontal grid spacing and its ability to describe the Taiwan terrain. The existence of the Central Mountain Range has only a minor impact on the storm track, but it plays a key role in substantially increasing the total rainfall amounts over Taiwan. The analysis presented here shows that the model and terrain resolutions play a nearly equivalent role in the heavy precipitation over Mount A-Li. The presence of maximum vertical motion and heating rate in the lower troposphere, above the upslope mountainous region, is a significant feature of forced lifting associated with the interaction of the typhoon's circulation and Taiwan's mountainous terrain. Overall, Typhoon Herb is a case in point to indicate the intimate relation between Taiwan's topography and the rainfall distribution associated with a typhoon at landfall.