Abstract
We explore the relationships between monthly tropical Chinese rainfall (TCR) and June-September Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) for the 35-year period from 1954 to 1988. The largest positive correlations between the TCR and the ISMR occur during the months of May and September, with the May correlation exceeding the 99% level of significance. The TCR between June and August, the most intense period of rainfall in tropical China, shows no apparent relationship with the ISMR. Similar behavior is found in composite anomaly patterns of outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). Repeating the rainfall computations for four subdomains in tropical China supports these results.
The significant correlation between the May TCR and the ISMR suggests that the May TCR may be a precursor of the ISMR, consistent with the westward migration of the onset of the Asian summer monsoon seen in climatological mean patterns of OLR.
