Climatology and pre-convection environmental conditions of dry and wet thunderstorm high winds over eastern China

A comparison of pre-convection environmental conditions shows dry THWs mainly occur under environmental conditions with lower saturation at both the middle-lower and upper layers, while wet ones usually have relatively lower saturation at the middle-lower layers. The instability of wet THWs can be well characterized by the most unstable lifted index (MULI) and most unstable convective available potential energy (MUCAPE), while dry ones can be well depicted by the lower 500 hPa temperature caused higher temperature difference (DT85) or temperature lapse rate (TLR85) between 850 and 500 hPa.

The 0–6-km vertical wind shear (SHR6) can distinguish dry THWs from wet ones better than SHR1. The typical difference can be comprehensively revealed by the representative soundings. The results provide objective references for understanding and forecasting THWs under dry and wet environmental conditions.