Joint modulation of coastal rainfall in Northeast Australia by local and large-scale forcings

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of the interaction between large-scale and local-scale forcings in regulating rainfall patterns and their propagation over coastal areas of Northeast (NE) Australia using a convective-scale regional model run for 180 days. Over the coastal areas, spatially heterogeneous rainfall patterns are evident in both radar observations and model simulations. By classifying the characteristics of three distinct rainfall groups, we found that the rainfall propagation modulates the average rainfall patterns. Modelling results suggest that the large-scale background wind and local-scale land–sea breeze circulations are two important factors driving rainfall propagation. ..