Moisture sources and transport pathways for spring and summer <scp>EF1</scp> + tornadic thunderstorms in central and eastern <scp>China</scp>

Abstract Low‐level moisture is a crucial factor in tornadogenesis, yet the sources of moisture for tornadoes in China remain largely unexplored. This study investigates the moisture sources and transport pathways for spring and summer EF1+ tornadoes in northern (CNN), central (CNC), and southern China (CNS) from 1980 to 2021. Using the Hybrid Single‐Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model and a Lagrangian‐based moisture uptake algorithm, we find that tornadoes in CNN and CNC are characterized by significant moisture recycling (˜27.2% in CNN and ˜51.0% in CNC), whereas tornadoes in CNS predominantly draw moisture from the South China Sea (˜71.3%). Ten tornado moisture transport channels from different regions are identified using k ‐means clustering (three for CNN tornadoes, three for CNC tornadoes and four for CNS tornadoes). Proportions of moisture uptake for each moisture channel are also quantified. Synoptic‐scale patterns associated with moisture channels reveal that moisture transport pathways are significantly influenced by the activity of the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH). When the WNPSH is anomalously strong, moisture is usually transported through pathways originating from the East China Sea, the southern part (south of 25°N) of the western North Pacific, and the South China Sea. Conversely, under the influence of monsoon flows and low‐pressure systems over China, moisture channels predominantly originate from land and the Bay of Bengal.