Abstract The change of average winter precipitation in the South China Sea (SCS) since 1999 was investigated by analyzing the average precipitation between 1999 and 2014 and 1980–1993. The spatial distribution of the winter precipitation difference between the two periods showed that the negative anomalies were distributed from the equatorial eastern Pacific to the equatorial central Pacific, and the positive anomalies were distributed in the subtropical western Pacific, the Maritime Continent, and northern part of Australia, which is a typical spatial distribution of precipitation anomalies during La Ni?a events. In the tropical Pacific, the Walker circulation is intensified, in which air rises from the Maritime Continent and air in the tropical western Pacific descends at the equatorial central Pacific. Therefore, the change in sea surface temperature showed a typical La Ni?a pattern. In the East Asian regions, the local Hadley circulation in which air rises above the SCS and descends in the mid-latitudes of East Asia is intensified. This circulation is related to the anomalous pressure distribution of the west-high and east-low pattern in East Asia and the strengthening of the East Asian winter monsoon. In addition, this result is in-line with increased snow depth in mid-latitude East Asia in recent years.
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