Abstract:Based on the observed precipitation data from 312 stations in Southwest China, NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data and sea surface temperature data from 1961 to 2018, the summer SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index) index was used to study the variation characteristics of summer drought in Southwest China and its relationship with circulation anomalies.Results indicate that Southwest China has a drying trend in summer, especially in Yunnan and southeast Sichuan.In the typical dry summers, Southwest China is characterized by the lower troposphere divergence and upper troposphere convergence, and the water vapor transport to the area is less.The reason of drought maintenance in Southwest China can be attributed to the abnormal atmospheric wave activity and the abnormal sea surface temperature forcing.The former disperses energy downstream through the disturbance of the westerly zone, which provides the necessary disturbance energy accumulation for the formation and maintenance of the circulation anomalies of lower troposphere divergence and upper troposphere convergence in Southwest China.The latter forces the atmosphere through anomalous heat sources in the tropical Northwest Pacific, causing the lower (upper) troposphere in the region to form an abnormal convergence (divergence), and an oblique vertical circulation to be formed in Southwest China and the tropical Northwest Pacific, which makes Southwest China controlled by the sinking airflow, thus forming conditions conducive to the occurrence and maintenance of significantly less precipitation and drought.These results are helpful to understand the formation mechanism of drought in Southwest China and provide useful clues for prediction.