Variations in the Impacts of Large Lakes on Local Precipitation over the Tibetan Plateau

Lakes are extensively distributed across the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and have experienced notable expansions under the background of climate change. This study investigates how large TP lakes influence local precipitation patterns. Our results show that local precipitation rates are higher in the warm season than in the cold season. These seasonal variations are attributed to differences in the thermal and moisture states of TP and the predominant weather processes, such as convection and cyclonic systems. More substantial increases in nighttime precipitation over lakes are also observed compared to daytime precipitation. These diurnal variations may be linked to differences in near-surface atmospheric dynamics (e.g., wind speed is lower at night than during the day). These findings provide important insights into the hydroclimatic role of TP lakes and call for deliberately incorporating observational evidence into simulating the lake-atmosphere interactions by climate models.