Variations of compound precipitation and temperature extremes in China during 1961-2014

Concurrent precipitation and temperature extremes usually have significant impacts on the society, economy and ecosystem. Changes in precipitation or temperature extremes in China have been extensively studied; however, less attention has been paid to their concurrence (or compound extremes) to date. This study explores the historical variations of compound extremes including dry/warm, dry/cold, wet/warm, and wet/cold combinations based on monthly precipitation and temperature observations during summer and winter from 1961 to 2014 over China. Results show that there is a significant increase in the frequency of compound dry/warm and wet/warm extremes while a decrease in compound dry/cold and wet/cold extremes for the period 1988-2014 relative to 1961-1987. In addition, statistically significant increase in the spatial extent exists in compound dry/warm and wet/warm extremes, while the areas affected by the compound dry/cold and wet/cold extremes present a decrease across China, which is shown to be partly related to the large-scale circulation patterns. The results of this study could improve our understanding of changes of compound precipitation and temperature extremes from a multivariate perspective.