Extratropical Southern Hemisphere Synchronous Pressure Variability in the Early 20th Century

Because continuous meteorological observations across Antarctica did not start until the middle of the 20th century, little is known about the full spatial pattern of pressure variability across the extratropical Southern Hemisphere (SH) in the early 20th century, defined here as the period from 1905-1956. To fill this gap, this study analyzes pressure observations across the SH in conjunction with seasonal pressure reconstructions across Antarctica, which are based on observed station-to-station statistical relationships between pressure over Antarctica and the southern midlatitudes. Using this newly generated dataset, it is found that the early 20th century is characterized by synchronous, but opposite signed pressure relationships between Antarctica and the SH midlatitudes, especially in austral summer and autumn. The synchronous pressure relationships are consistent with the Southern Annular Mode, extending its well-known influence on SH extratropical pressure since 1957 into the early 20th century. Apart from connections with the Southern Annular Mode, regional and shorter-duration pressure trends are found to be associated with influences from tropical variability and potentially the zonal wavenumber three pattern. Although the reduced network of SH observations and Antarctic reconstruction capture the Southern Annular Mode in the early 20th century, reanalyses products show varying skill in reproducing trends and variability, especially over the oceans and high southern latitudes prior to 1957, which stresses the importance of continual efforts of historical data rescue in data sparse regions to improve their quality.