Abstract:Based on the conventional surface and upper data, NCEP 1°×1° reanal ysis data of every 6 h, in terms of the synoptic principle and the dynamic diag nosis, the cold wave during 2 6 December 2008 has been analyzed. The resu lts are as follows: The cold wave occurred when the European ridge developed in tensely and moved eastwards, and the zonal circulation changed into the meridion al one in the middle high latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. The northerly wi nd in front of the ridge moved southwards. The vorticity of the transverse tr ough in the west was larger than that in the east. Both the negative variation o f the heightlocated in the southeast part in front of the trough and the posit ive variation of height behind the trough were favorable to t he revising of the transverse trough. The polar vortex and the revising transver se trough get together causing the deepening of the trough. Meanwhile, the cold air strengthened and invaded to the south. The ridge impulsed by the trough move d southeastwards and broke down gradually. Afterwards, the northerly wind change d into the northwesterly wind, which led to this cold wave process. The main re a son for the rapid air temperature decrease was the intense cold advection. The f ormation of the strong wind was correlated with not only the cold advection but also the upper disseminated momentum. There were obvious differences of the circ ulation and characteristics of the physical quantities between the rainfall and the heavy snowfall in the Shandong Peninsula. The rainfall is induced by cold w arm air converging, the heavy snowfall is caused by cold flow and difference of sea land distribution and orographic uplift. T639 model and ECMWF and Japan models , espec ially for ECMWF model, have good performances for the evolvement and adjustment of atmospheric circulation situation in the Asia middle and high latitude area.