Tracing anomalies in moisture recycling and transport to two record-breaking droughts over the Mid-to-Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

The influence of moisture recycling and transport on major drought events is poorly understood, but essential to enhance our knowledge of the atmospheric water cycle. Here, we investigate this for two record-breaking droughts over the Mid-to-Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River (MLRYR), the winter-spring (WS) drought of 2011 and summer-autumn (SA) drought of 2019. Using a land–atmosphere water balance framework, we find the precipitation recycling ratio (the percentage of precipitation in a region derived from the same region’s evaporation) increased during both droughts, especially for the SA drought (from 14.5% to 22.9%). The WS drought was characterized by a 27.8% reduction in external advected moisture, originating principally from the northeast China and Bohai Sea (reduced by 22.3%) and from the northwest Pacific and South China Sea (25.7%). The SA drought was driven by a 43.8% reduction in external advected moisture, originating mainly from a southwesterly path, i.e. the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea (reduced by 26.8%). From a regional viewpoint, moisture transportation from the Pacific Ocean (and South China Sea) decreased during the WS (SA) droughts, mainly resulting in moisture deficit over the MLRYR. Analyses reveal that this reduction was driven by strong negative convergence, which was unfavorable for precipitation formation and enhanced air flow out of the MLRYR. The weakened moisture transport was principally driven by seasonal mean flow rather than transient eddies. Changes in wind (i.e. dynamic processes), rather than specific humidity (i.e. thermodynamic processes) were dominant in regulating the seasonal mean moisture transport. Our study helps understand the atmospheric water cycle anomalies driving extreme drought events, and advances knowledge on moisture transportation and its controlling processes.