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Abstract
The authors examined the variability in wintertime cyclone activity and storm tracks and their relation to precipitation over China for the period 1951-2006 using the observational data. Two apparent modes of variability were assumed for the cyclone activity and storm tracks. The first mode describes the oscillation in the strength of the storm tracks in East Asia, which significantly increased since the mid-1980s, whereas the second mode describes a seesaw oscillation in the storm track strength between the Central-Southeast China and northern East Asia. The storm tracks over the Central-Southeast China have increased since the late 1960s. The possible causes for the variation of the cyclone activity and storm tracks are also explored. It is shown that wintertime precipitation, which has increased since the mid-1980s, concentrates in Central-Southeast China. The enhancement may be caused by the first mode of variability of storm tracks, whereas the interannual variability of precipitation may be linked to the second mode of the storm track variability.