scholarly journals Interannual Variability of the North American Cold Air Stream and Associated Synoptic Circulations

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (23) ◽  
pp. 9575-9590 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Kanno ◽  
John E. Walsh ◽  
Toshiki Iwasaki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽  
Cold Air ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation

In boreal winter, the cold air mass (CAM) flux of air with a potential temperature below 280 K forms climatological mean CAM streams in East Asia and North America (NA). This study diagnoses the interannual variability of the NA stream by an analysis of the CAM flux across 60°N between Greenland and the Rocky Mountains. The first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) represents the variations in intensity of the NA stream. When the first principal component (PC1) is highly positive, the central part of the NA stream is intensified, with cold anomalies east of the Rocky Mountains. At the same time, a stratospheric polar vortex tends to split or displace toward NA. PC1 is highly correlated with the tropical Northern Hemisphere pattern, implying that this pattern is associated with the intensity of the NA stream. The second EOF shows a longitudinal shift of the NA stream toward Greenland or the Rocky Mountains. A highly negative PC2 results in a cold anomaly from western Canada to the Midwestern United States and anomalous heavy snowfall in the northeastern United States. PC2 is positively correlated with the Arctic Oscillation, which suggests that the longitudinal position of the NA stream varies with the Arctic Oscillation. These results illustrate how the intensity and location of cold air outbreaks vary with large-scale modes of atmospheric variability, with corresponding implications for the predictability of winter severity in NA.

Climate Extremes of the 2019/2020 Winter in Northern Eurasia: Contributions by the Climate Trend and Interannual Variability Related to the Arctic Oscillation

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
V. N. Kryjov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Interannual Variability ◽  
Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Linear Trend ◽  
Climate Extremes ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Climate Trend ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation

The 2019/2020 wintertime (December–March) anomalies of sea level pressure, temperature, and precipitation are analyzed. The contribution of the 40-year linear trend in these parameters associated with global climate change and of the interannual variability associated with the Arctic Oscillation (AO) is assessed. In the 2019/2020 winter, extreme zonal circulation was observed. The mean wintertime AO index was 2.20, which ranked two for the whole observation period (started in the early 20th century) and was outperformed only by the wintertime index of 1988/1989. It is shown that the main contribution to the 2019/2020 wintertime anomalies was provided by the AO. A noticeable contribution of the trend was observed only in the Arctic. Extreme anomalies over Northern Eurasia were mainly associated with the AO rather than the trend. However, the AO-related anomalies, particularly air temperature anomalies, were developing against the background of the trend-induced increased mean level.

Improvement in Prediction of the Arctic Oscillation with a Realistic Ocean Initial Condition in a CGCM

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (22) ◽  
pp. 8951-8967 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hae-Jeong Kim ◽  
Joong-Bae Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Polar Front ◽  
Forecast Skill ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Initial Condition ◽  
Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Polar Front Jet

Abstract This study verifies the impact of improved ocean initial conditions on the Arctic Oscillation (AO) forecast skill by assessing the one-month lead predictability of boreal winter AO using the Pusan National University (PNU) coupled general circulation model (CGCM). Hindcast experiments were performed on two versions of the model, one does not use assimilated ocean initial data (V1.0) and one does (V1.1), and the results were comparatively analyzed. The forecast skill of V1.1 was superior to that of V1.0 in terms of the correlation coefficient between the predicted and observed AO indices. In the regression analysis, V1.1 showed more realistic spatial similarities than V1.0 did in predicted sea surface temperature and atmospheric circulation fields. The authors suggest the relative importance of the contribution of the ocean initial condition to the AO forecast skill was because the ocean data assimilation increased the predictability of the AO, to some extent, through the improved interaction between tropical forcing induced by realistic sea surface temperature (SST) and atmospheric circulation. In V1.1, as in the observation, the cold equatorial Pacific SST anomalies generated the weakened tropical convection and Hadley circulation over the Pacific, resulting in a decelerated subtropical jet and accelerated polar front jet in the extratropics. The intensified polar front jet implies a stronger stratospheric polar vortex relevant to the positive AO phase; hence, surface manifestations of the reflected positive AO phase were then induced through the downward propagation of the stratospheric polar vortex. The results suggest that properly assimilated initial ocean conditions might contribute to improve the predictability of global oscillations, such as the AO, through large-scale tropical ocean–atmosphere interaction.

Association of Indian Ocean ITCZ Variations with the Arctic Oscillation during Boreal Winter

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 300-305
Author(s):  
Gong Dao-Yi ◽  
Gao Yong-Qi ◽  
Hu Miao ◽  
Guo Dong
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Arctic Oscillation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation

scholarly journals A strong phase reversal of the Arctic Oscillation in midwinter 2015/2016: Role of the stratospheric polar vortex and tropospheric blocking

2016 ◽  
Vol 121 (22) ◽  
pp. 13,443-13,457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoffman H. N. Cheung ◽  
Wen Zhou ◽  
Marco Y. T. Leung ◽  
C. M. Shun ◽  
S. M. Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽  
Strong Phase ◽  
Phase Reversal ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation

scholarly journals Where can the Arctic oscillation be reconstructed? Towards a reconstruction of climate modes based on stable teleconnections

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Lohmann ◽  
N. Rimbu ◽  
M. Dima
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Arctic Oscillation Index ◽  
Climate Modes ◽  
Teleconnection Patterns ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Coral Tree

Abstract. Proxy data can bring observed climate variability of the last 100 years into a long-term context. We identify regions of the Northern Hemisphere where the teleconnection patterns of the Arctic Oscillation are stationary. Our method provides a systematic way to examine optimal sites for the reconstruction of climate modes based on paleoclimatic archives that sensitively record temperature and precipitation variations. We identify the regions for boreal winter and spring that can be used to reconstruct the Arctic Oscillation index in the pre-instrumental period. Finally, this technique is applied to high resolution coral, tree ring, ice core and mollusk shell data to understand proxy-climate teleconnections and their use for climate reconstructions.

The Impact of the Stratospheric Polar Vortex Shift on the Arctic Oscillation

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 4129-4143
Author(s):  
Yongjia Lu ◽  
Wenshou Tian ◽  
Jiankai Zhang ◽  
Jinlong Huang ◽  
Ruhua Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Reanalysis Dataset ◽  
Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽  
Eurasian Continent ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Action Center ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation ◽  
The Impact

AbstractUsing the ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset for the time period 1979–2016, we analyzed the influence of the stratospheric polar vortex shift on the Arctic Oscillation (AO) in winter (December–March). The results show that a shift in the stratospheric polar vortex toward the Eurasian continent is favorable for the occurrence of the negative phase of the AO. The duration of the AO events accompanied by the stratospheric polar vortex shift toward the Eurasian continent (AO-shift events) is longer than that of the remaining negative AO events (AO-noshift events), and the intensity of AO-shift events is greater than that of AO-noshift events from day 4 to day 15 of the life cycle of the events. The enhancement in the AO intensity during AO-shift events is likely due to downward extension of the stratospheric northern annular mode (NAM) signals and more poleward-propagating planetary waves in the troposphere and lower stratosphere and their convergence in the mid-high latitudes. Furthermore, the polar vortex shift can lead to changes in the intensity of the three action centers in the AO spatial pattern at 500 hPa. In general, during AO-shift events, the three action centers are stronger than those during AO-noshift events. There is an overall westward shift of the Arctic action center during AO-shift events, which may be closely related to the changes of Greenland blocking frequency.

scholarly journals Dynamics, Variability, and Change in Seasonal Precipitation Reconstructions for North America

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 3173-3195 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Stahle ◽  
Edward R. Cook ◽  
Dorian J. Burnette ◽  
Max C. A. Torbenson ◽  
Ian M. Howard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
North American ◽  
Arctic Oscillation ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Seasonal Precipitation ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation

AbstractCool- and warm-season precipitation totals have been reconstructed on a gridded basis for North America using 439 tree-ring chronologies correlated with December–April totals and 547 different chronologies correlated with May–July totals. These discrete seasonal chronologies are not significantly correlated with the alternate season; the December–April reconstructions are skillful over most of the southern and western United States and north-central Mexico, and the May–July estimates have skill over most of the United States, southwestern Canada, and northeastern Mexico. Both the strong continent-wide El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signal embedded in the cool-season reconstructions and the Arctic Oscillation signal registered by the warm-season estimates faithfully reproduce the sign, intensity, and spatial patterns of these ocean–atmospheric influences on North American precipitation as recorded with instrumental data. The reconstructions are included in the North American Seasonal Precipitation Atlas (NASPA) and provide insight into decadal droughts and pluvials. They indicate that the sixteenth-century megadrought, the most severe and sustained North American drought of the past 500 years, was the combined result of three distinct seasonal droughts, each bearing unique spatial patterns potentially associated with seasonal forcing from ENSO, the Arctic Oscillation, and the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation. Significant 200–500-yr-long trends toward increased precipitation have been detected in the cool- and warm-season reconstructions for eastern North America. These seasonal precipitation changes appear to be part of the positive moisture trend measured in other paleoclimate proxies for the eastern area that began as a result of natural forcing before the industrial revolution and may have recently been enhanced by anthropogenic climate change.

scholarly journals Subseasonal Forecast Skill over the Northern Polar Region in Boreal Winter

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1935-1951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai Lin
Keyword(s):  
Polar Region ◽  
Polar Vortex ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Seasonal Prediction ◽  
Forecast Skill ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Boreal Winter ◽  
Bering Strait ◽  
Stratospheric Polar Vortex ◽  
The Arctic Oscillation

AbstractPentad (5-day averaged) forecast skill over the Arctic region in boreal winter is evaluated for the subseasonal to seasonal prediction (S2S) systems from three operational centers: the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). The results indicate that for a lead time longer than about 10 days the forecast skill of 2-m air temperature and 500-hPa geopotential height in the Arctic area is low compared to the tropical and midlatitude regions. The three S2S systems have comparable forecast skill in the northern polar region. Relatively high skill is observed in the Arctic sector north of the Bering Strait in pentads 4–6. Possible sources of S2S predictability in the polar region are explored. The polar forecast skill is found to be dependent on the phase of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) in the initial condition; that is, forecasts initialized with the negative AO are more skillful than those starting from the positive AO. This is likely due to the influence of the stratospheric polar vortex. The tropical MJO is found to also influence the prediction skill in the polar region. Forecasts starting from MJO phases 6–7, which correspond to suppressed convection in the equatorial eastern Indian Ocean and enhanced convection in the tropical western Pacific, tend to be more skillful than those initialized from other MJO phases. To improve the polar prediction on the subseasonal time scale, it is important to have a well-represented stratosphere and tropical MJO and their associated teleconnections in the model.

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