Interannual variability of summer tropical cyclone activity in the northwestern North Pacific modulated by El Niño‐Southern Oscillation and Intraseasonal Oscillation

Author(s):  
Tzu‐Ling Lai ◽  
Jau‐Ming Chen ◽  
Chung‐Hsiung Sui ◽  
Pei‐Hua Tan ◽  
Liang Wu ◽  
...  
2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 2459-2474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Y. Jien ◽  
William A. Gough ◽  
Ken Butler

Abstract The interannual variability of tropical cyclone (TC) activity due to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the main development region of the eastern North Pacific basin has received scant attention. Herein the authors classify years of El Niño, La Niña, and neutral conditions using the multivariate ENSO index (MEI). Storm measurements of the net tropical cyclone activity index and power dissipation index are used to summarize the overall seasonal TC activity and TC intensity between 1971 and 2012. Both measures are found to be statistically dependent on the ENSO phases in the basin’s main development region. However, when the area is longitudinally divided, only the western portion of the development region experienced a significant difference (p < 0.05). Specifically, El Niño years are characterized by more frequent, more intense events compared to La Niña conditions for this subregion. Correlation analyses on the relationships between the MEI and both TC indices demonstrate correlations between ENSO and TC activity and intensity that are statistically significant (p < 0.05) only in the western region. These relationships have the potential to improve the short-term forecast of the local TC activity and intensity on a seasonal basis for public awareness and disaster preparation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1771-1787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jau-Ming Chen ◽  
Pei-Hua Tan ◽  
Liang Wu ◽  
Hui-Shan Chen ◽  
Jin-Shuen Liu ◽  
...  

This study examines the interannual variability of summer tropical cyclone (TC) rainfall (TCR) in the western North Pacific (WNP) depicted by the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR). This interannual variability exhibits a maximum region near Taiwan (19°–28°N, 120°–128°E). Significantly increased TCR in this region is modulated by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-related large-scale processes. They feature elongated sea surface temperature warming in the tropical eastern Pacific and a southeastward-intensified monsoon trough. Increased TC movements are facilitated by interannual southerly/southeasterly flows in the northeastern periphery of the intensified monsoon trough to move from the tropical WNP toward the region near Taiwan, resulting in increased TCR. The coherent dynamic relations between interannual variability of summer TCR and large-scale environmental processes justify CFSR as being able to reasonably depict interannual characteristics of summer TCR in the WNP. For intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) modulations, TCs tend to cluster around the center of a 10–24-day cyclonic anomaly and follow its northwestward propagation from the tropical WNP toward the region near Taiwan. The above TC movements are subject to favorable background conditions provided by a northwest–southeasterly extending 30–60-day cyclonic anomaly. Summer TCR tends to increase (decrease) during El Niño (La Niña) years and strong (weak) ISO years. By comparing composite TCR anomalies and correlations with TCR variability, it is found that ENSO is more influential than ISO in modulating the interannual variability of summer TCR in the WNP.


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