Meteorology and Climate Dynamics Laboratory has a long history at Kyushu University, encompassing a broad range of observational, theoretical and numerical research on dynamics of weather and climate system. We highlight fundamental issues of cloud physics, mesoscale and synoptic meteorology, large-scale dynamical processes in the atmosphere, and ocean and climate dynamics. Scale-interaction of weather and climate phenomena is also a major focus towards contributing to precise and reliable prediction of severe local storm, tropical cyclone and winter storm under changing climate.

Research Interests

Members

■ Staffs 

Associate Professor Takashi Mochizuki [researchmap] [GoogleScholar]

Assistant Professor Tetsuya Kawano [researchmap]

( Professor Emeritus Hisanori Ito )

( Professor Emeritus Ryuichi Kawamura [researchmap] )

■ Students

D3 Jiwei Wu

M2 Ryunosuke Hanaoka

M2 Yoshiki Hanashima

M2 Naoki Matsura

M2 Maria Murai

M2 Shota Nakaoka

M2 Akika Shimizu

M2 Taiki Tsujitsuka

M1 Shiryu Hashimoto

M1 Hide Kochi

M1 Nobuyuki Saiki

M1

M1 Mio Yoshinaga

B4 Kazuki Sakai

B4 Kosuke Sugimura

B4 Sora Tachibana

B4 Mao Umegae

Referred papers

■ 2025

• Wu, J., R. Kawamura, T. Mochizuki, T. Kawano, 2025, Response of tropical cyclone-related precipitation during boreal summer season over East Asia to pseudo-global-warming climates, International Journal of Climatology, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.70201

• Fujiwara, K., K. Maruno, N. Yoshida, R. Kawamura, 2025, Monsoon gyres over the western North Pacific in mid-summer on monthly and synoptic scales, Atmospheric Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2025.108517

• Mochizuki, T., Y. Ando, 2025, Decadal modulation of summertime northwestern Pacific subtropical high linked to Indian Ocean basin warming, Climate, 13, https://doi.org/10.3390/cli13060106

• Nakamura, Y., R. Kawamura, T. Kawano, T. Mochizuki, 2025, Breakdown and recovery of the eyewall of Super Typhoon Rai (2021) crossing the Philippine Islands, Weather and Cliamte Extremes, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2025.100763

• Ando, Y., T. Mochizuki, 2025, Dominant contribution of Arctic sea ice cover to the bimodally interannual variation of the polar night jet in late November, Journal of Oceanography, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-025-00749-9

• Hirata, H., R. Kawamura, M. Nonaka, 2025, Effects of a marine heatwave associated with the Kuroshio Extension large meander on extreme precipitation in September 2023. Scientific Reports, 15, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-88294-9

• Kawano, T., R. Kawamura, 2025, Impact of Unusually High SSTs in the Southern Part of the Sea of Japan on Heavy Rainfall That Occurred in Noto, Japan, on 21 September 2024, Scientific Online Letters on the Atomsphere, 21, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2025-021

■ 2024

• Nishimura, H., R. Kawamura, X. Li, T. Kawano, T. Mochizuki, K. Ichiyanagi, K. Yoshimura, 2024, A triggering mechanism of quasi-stationary convective bands in the vicinity of southwestern Japan during the summer season as deduced from moisture origins, Atomspheric Research, 308, 107544, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2024.107544

• Wu, J., R. Kawamura, T. Mochizuki, T. Kawano, 2024, Increasing WNP tropical cyclone-related extreme precipitation over East Asia during boreal summer associated with PDO shift, Weather and Climate Extremes, 100714, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2024.100714

• Mochizuki, T., 2024, Interannual fluctuations and their low-frequency modulation of summertime heavy daily rainfall potential in western Japan, Atmosphere, 15(7), 814, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15070814

• Mochizuki, T., 2024, Multi-year potential predictability of the wintertime heavy precipitation potentials in East Asia, Geophysical Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108312

• Fujiwara, K., R. Kawamura, M. Nonaka, 2024, Influence of the Kuroshio Large Meander on the intensity of a distant tropical cyclone: A case study of Typhoon Neoguri (2019), Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, 20, 223-230, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2024-030

• Hara, Y., K. Suzuki, T. Kawano, 2024, Quantitative Evaluation of Graupel Shape Observed by New Particle Imaging Radiosonde, Rainscope – A Case Study of a Convective Cloud on 25 June 2022, Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, 184-190, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2024-025

• Takemura, K., S. Maeda, R. Kawamura, 2024, An underlying factor of increasing early winter precipitation in the Hokuriku region of Japan in recent decades, Atmospheric Science Letters, https://doi.org/10.1002/asl.1229

• Takemura, K., H. Sato, A. Ito, T. Umeda, S. Maeda, M. Hirai, Y. Tamaki, H. Murai, H. Nakamigawa, Y. N. Takayabu, H. Ueda, R. Kawamura, Y. Tanimoto, H. Naoe, M. Nonaka, T. Hirooka, H. Mukougawa, M. Watanabe, H. Nakamura, 2024, Preliminary diagnosis of primary factors for an unprecedented heatwave over Japan in 2023 summer, Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2024-010

• Li, X., R. Kawamura, K. Ichiyanagi, K. Yoshimura, 2024, Moisture sources and isotopic composition of the 2020 extraordinary and persistent Meiyu rainfall in the Yangtze River valley modulated by large-scale circulations, Atmospheric Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2023.107114

■ 2023

• Tsuchida, K., T. Mochizuki, R. Kawamura, T. Kawano, 2023, Interdecadal variations of radiative feedbacks associated with the El Niño and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in CMIP6 models, Geophysical Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL106127

• Tsuchida, K., T. Mochizuki, R. Kawamura, T. Kawano, Y. Kamae, 2023, Diversity of lagged relationships in global means of surface temperatures and radiative budgets for CMIP6 piControl simulations, Journal of Climate, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-23-0045.1

• Oka, E., S. Sugimoto, F. Kobashi, H. Nishikawa, S. Kanada, T. Nasuno, R. Kawamura, M. Nonaka, 2023, Subtropical Mode Water south of Japan impacts typhoon intensity, Science Advances, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi2793

• Zhang, X., T. Mochizuki, 2023, Decadal modulation of ENSO and IOD impacts on the Indian Ocean upwelling, Frontiers in Earth Science, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1212421

• Fujiwara, K., R Kawamura, 2023, Impact of the extremely warm Gulf Stream on heavy precipitation induced by Hurricane Sandy (2012) during its extratropical transition, Weather and Climate Extremes, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2023.100568

• Yoshida, N., R. Kawamura, T. Kawano, T. Mochizuki, S. Iizuka, 2023, Remote dynamic and thermodynamic effects of typhoons on Meiyu–Baiu precipitation in Japan assessed with bogus typhoon experiments, Weather and Climate Extremes, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2023.100578

• Kawano, T., R. Yasukiyo, R. Kawamura, T. Mochizuki, 2023, A Projection of Future JPCZs by WRF Dynamical Downscaling Simulations based on MIROC6 ScenarioMIP ssp585, Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2023-014

• Li, X., R. Kawamura, K. Ichiyanagi, K. Yoshimura, 2023, Moisture sources and isotopic composition of a record-breaking heavy Meiyu-Baiu rainfall in southwestern Japan in early July 2020, Atmospheric Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2023.106693

• Fujiwara, K., R. Kawamura, 2023, Intensification of a distant hurricane by warm-core eddies in the Gulf Stream in boreal fall, Atmospheric Science Letters, https://doi.org/10.1002/asl.1141

■ 2022

• Mochizuki, T., M. Watanabe, 2022, Atlantic impacts on subdecadal warming over the tropical Pacific in the 2000s, Frontiers in Climate, https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.1040352

• Zhang, X., T. Mochizuki, 2022, Sea surface height fluctuations relevant to Indian summer monsoon over the northwestern Indian Ocean, Frontiers in Climate, https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2022.1008776

• Kawano, T., R. Kawamura, 2022, Remote effect of Kuroshio warm SSTs in the East China Sea on heavy rainfall in southern Kyushu, Japan, on 3 July 2020, Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, 18, 205-210, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2022-033

• Fujiwara, K., R. Kawamura, 2022, Appearance of a quasi-quadrennial variation in Baiu rainfall in southern Kyushu, Japan, after the beginning of this century, Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, 18, 181-186, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2022-029

• Li, X., R. Kawamura, A. Sugimoto, K. Yoshimura, 2022, Isotopic composition and moisture sources of precipitation in midlatitude regions characterized by extratropical cyclones’ route, Journal of Hydrology, 612, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128047

• Suzuki, Y., R. Kawamura, T. Kawano, T. Mochizuki, 2022, Cascading effects of the Changbai Mountains on an extreme weather disaster in northern Japan in January 2021, Weather and Climate Extremes, 36, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2022.100439

• Tsukijihara, T., R. Kawamura, 2022, Contributions of the climate regime shift and historical global warming to explosive cyclone activity around Japan according to large-ensemble simulations. International Journal of Climatology, 42, 1632-1644. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.7324

■ 2021

• Fujiwara, K., R. Kawamura, 2021, Active role of sea surface temperature changes over the Kuroshio in the development of distant tropical cyclones in boreal fall, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 126, e2021JD035056, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JD035056

• Li, X., R. Kawamura, A. Sugimoto, K. Yoshimura, 2021, Estimation of water origins within an explosive cyclone over the Sea of Japan using an isotopic regional spectral model, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 22, 2825-2841, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-21-0027.1

• Hirata, H., R. Kawamura, M. Nonaka, K. Tsuboki, 2021, Kuroshio-enhanced convective rainband associated with an extratropical cyclone in the cold season, Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, 99, 899-912, https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.2021-043

• Iizuka, S., R. Kawamura, H. Nakamura, T. Miyama, 2021, Influence of warm SST in the Oyashio region on rainfall distribution of Typhoon Hagibis (2019), Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, 17A, 21-28, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.17A-004

• Shinoda, Y., R. Kawamura, T. Kawano, H. Shimizu, 2021, Dynamical role of the Changbai Mountains and the Korean Peninsula in the wintertime quasi-stationary convergence zone over the Sea of Japan, International Journal of Climatology, 41, E602-E615, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.6713

■ 2020

• Smith, D. M., A. A. Scaife, R. Eade, P. Athanasiadis, A. Bellucci, I. Bethke, R. Bilbao, L. F. Borchert, L.-P. Caron, F. Counillon, G. Danabasoglu, T. Delworth, F. J. Doblas-Reyes, N. J. Dunstone, V. Estella-Perez, S. Flavoni, L. Hermanson, N. Keenlyside, V. Kharin, M. Kimoto, W. J. Merryfield, J. Mignot, T. Mochizuki, K. Modali, P.-A. Monerie, W. A. Muller, D. Nicoli, P. Ortega, K. Pankatz, H. Pohlmann, J. Robson, P. Ruggieri, R. Sospedra-Alfonso, D. Swingedouw, Y. Wang, S. Wild, S. Yeager, X. Yang, L. Zhang, 2020, North Atlantic climate far more predictable than models imply, Nature, 583, 796-800, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2525-0

• Chikamoto, Y., Z. F. Johnson, S.-Y. Wang, M. J. McPhaden, T. Mochizuki, 2020, El Nino Southern Oscillation evolution modulated by the Atlantic forcing, Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JC016318

• Johnson, Z. F., Y. Chikamoto, S.-Y. Wang, M. J. McPhaden, T. Mochizuki, 2020, Pacific Decadal Oscillation remotely forced by the equatorial Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, Climate Dynamics, 55, 789-811, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-020-05295-2

• Kataoka, T., T. Tatebe, H. Koyama, T. Mochizuki, K. Ogochi, H. Naoe, Y. Imada, H. Shiogama, M. Kimoto, M. Watanabe, 2020, Seasonal to decadal predictions with MIROC6: Description and basic evaluation, Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019MS002035

• Fujiwara, K., R. Kawamura, T. Kawano, 2020, Suppression of tropical cyclone development in response to a remote increase in the latent heat flux over the Kuroshio: A case study for Typhoon Chaba in 2010, Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, 16, 151-156, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2020-026

• Kawano, T., R. Kawamura, 2020, Genesis and maintenance processes of a quasi-stationary convective band that produced record-breaking precipitation in northern Kyushu, Japan on 5 July 2017, Journal of the Meteorological Society of Japan, 98, 673-690, https://doi.org/10.2151/jmsj.2020-03

• Kamamoto, R., K. Suzuki, T. Kawano, H. Hanado, K. Nakagawa, Y. Kaneko, 2020, Ground Validation of GPM DPR Algorithms by Hydrometeor Measurements and Polarimetric Radar Observations of Winter Snow Clouds: A Case Study on 4 February 2018, Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.2020-020

• Fujiwara, K., R. Kawamura, T. Kawano, 2020, Remote thermodynamic impact of the Kuroshio Current on a developing tropical cyclone over the western North Pacific in boreal fall, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 125, e2019JD031356, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD031356

■ 2019

• Qian, Y., H. Murakami, M. Nakano, P.-C. Hsu, T. L. Delworth, S. B. Kapnick, V. Rammaswamy, T. Mochizuki, Y. Morioka, T. Doi, T. Kataoka, T. Nasuno, K. Yoshida, 2019, On the mechanisms of the active 2018 tropical cyclone season in the North Pacific, Geophysical Research Letters, 46, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084566

• Takahashi, T., S. Sugimoto, T. Kawano, K. Suzuki, 2019, Microphysical Structure and Lightning Initiation in Hokuriku Winter Clouds, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD030227

• Tatebe, H., T. Ogura, T. Nitta, Y. Komuro, K. Ogochi, F. Saito, M. Abe, T. Takemura, K. Sudo, M. Sekiguchi, M. Chikira, S. Watanabe, M. Mori, N. Hirota, Y. Kawatani, T. Mochizuki, K. Yoshimura, K. Takata, R. O'ishi, D. Yamazaki, T. Suzuki, M. Kurogi, T. Kataoka, M. Watanabe, M. Kimoto, 2019, Description and basic evaluation of simulated mean-state, internal variability, and climate sensitivity in MIROC6, Geoscientific Model Development, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2018-155

• Hirata, H., R. Kawamura, M. Nonaka, K. Tsuboki, 2019, Significant impact of heat supply from the Gulf stream on a “super bomb” cyclone in January 2018, Geophysical Research Letters, 46, 7718-7725, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082995

• Smith, D. M., R. Eade, A. A. Scaife, L.-P. Caron, T. M. Delsole, G. Danabasoglu, T. Delworth, F. J. Doblas-Reyes, N. J. Dunstone, L. Hermanson, V. Kharin, M. Kimoto, W. J. Merryfield, T. Mochizuki, W. A. Muller, H. Pohlmann, S. Yeager, X. Yang, 2019, Robust skill of decadal climate predictions, npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 2, 13, https://doi.org/doi:10.1038/s41612-019-0071-y

• Shimpo, A., K. Takemura, S. Wakamatsu, H. Togawa, Y. Mochizuki, M. Takekawa, S. Tanaka, K. Yamashita, S. Maeda, R. Kurora, H. Murai, N. Kitabatake, H. Tsuguti, H. Mukougawa, T. Iwasaki, R. Kawamura, M. Kimoto, I. Takayabu, Y. N. Takayabu, Y. Tanimoto, T. Hirooka, Y. Masumoto, M. Watanabe, K. Tsuboki, H. Nakamura, 2019, Primary factors behind the heavy rain event of July 2018 and the subsequent heat wave in Japan, Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere, 15A, 13-18, https://doi.org/10.2151/sola.15A-003

• Hirata, H., R. Kawamura, M. K. Yoshioka, M. Nonaka, K. Tsuboki, 2019, Key role of the Kuroshio Current in the formation of frontal structure of an extratropical cyclone associated with heavy precipitation, Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 124, 6143-6156, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029578

• Tsukijihara, T., R. Kawamura, T. Kawano, 2019, Influential role of inter-decadal explosive cyclone activity on the increased frequency of winter storm events in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, International Journal of Climatology, 39, 1700-1715, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.5910

• Mochizuki, T., M. Watanabe, 2019, Observed and hindcated subdecadal variability of the tropical Pacific climate, ICES journal of Marine Science, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz026

(since 2019 only)