Delayed Impacts of Spring Soil Moisture in the Tibetan Plateau on Early‐Summer Air Temperature in the Northern East Asia

Abstract The northern East Asia (NEA) is suffering from significant temperature anomalies in recent years and the formation mechanisms remain unclear yet. With focus on non‐local effects of Tibetan Plateau soil moisture (TPSM), this study explores the close linkage between anomalies of TPSM in boreal spring and air temperature of NEA (NEAT) in early summer based on observational diagnosis, and the influence mechanism is verified by numerical model experiments. The drier mid‐west TPSM in April could persist into early summer and reduce the TP evaporation, which leads to positive anomalies of surface sensible heat flux heating the TP atmosphere. Heated air further exciting the wave train, and NEA is covered by positive geopotential height anomalies. Higher pressure results the downdraft and thus abnormally high air temperatures in NEA eventually. This study suggests that TPSM in spring may act as a new precursor providing an additional source of predictability for early‐summer NEAT.