The forecast through February indicates a vast stretch of intense water deficit from southern Mongolia and western Inner Mongolia to China’s western border, including areas of both deficit and surplus as transitions occur. Exceptional deficits are also forecast for Hebei, with deficits of somewhat lesser intensity reaching through Beijing and Shanxi. A vast block of intense surplus is expected from the Yangtze River through southeastern China. Moderate surpluses are forecast for South Korea.
East Asia: Water deficits to emerge in South Korea, Japan, & persist in Mongolia
A return to normal water conditions is forecast for Southeast China from April through June – a change from surpluses observed in prior months. Deficits are forecast to emerge in South Korea, Japan, Northeast China, the Shandong Peninsula, Henan, and Shaanxi. Severe to exceptional deficits will persist in southern Mongolia, western Inner Mongolia, the Tarim Basin and eastern Dzungaria regions of southern Xinjiang, and southern Liaoning. Surpluses are forecast for northern Sichuan and much of Qinghai. The forecast for July through September indicates the persistence of deficits in western Inner Mongolia and Mongolia, and the emergence of deficits in the Sichuan Basin.
East Asia: Water surpluses forecast to persist in Shanghai, Jiangsu; deficits near Seoul
Water deficits are forecast to diminish in severity November through January in Northeast China, the Korean Peninsula, and the Shandong Peninsula, but will continue to emerge on Liaodong Peninsula, Guizhou, northeast Guangxi, and eastern Yunnan. Exceptional surpluses will persist in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Fujian, but from February through April conditions in Fujian will transition to near-normal. Moderate deficits will emerge in many parts of North Korea.
East Asia: Surpluses on Yellow and Yangtze Rivers to diminish, surpluses to persist in Zhejiang & Fujian
From October through December the severity of deficits on the Korean Peninsula will persist while that of the Shandong Peninsula is expected to diminish. The extent of exceptional deficits in Yunnan and Guangxi is forecast to shrink somewhat, but deficits will emerge from that region leading north. Surpluses on the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers will diminish, but surpluses will continue to emerge in Zhejiang, Fujian, and southern Taiwan. Widespread surpluses that have dominated China recently are notably absent in the January through March forecast.
East Asia: Water surpluses forecast to diminish in Yangtze Basin, increase in Pearl
Water surpluses in the Yangtze Basin are forecast to diminish in extent from September through November, while to the south surpluses in the Pearl River basin will increase. Water deficits are expected to increase from the Shandong Peninsula westward to the Tibetan Plateau, and deficits are also forecast for Shanghai. Elsewhere in the region deficits are forecast in Taiwan and South Korea during this period; surpluses are forecast for Hokkaido, Japan. From December through February surpluses along the Yellow, Yangtze, and Pearl Rivers will moderate.