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This paper analyzes the relationships between the circulation regimes of the 500-hPa height (z500) and 250-hPa zonal winds (u250) in the Pacific–North America region during boreal winter, and the 45-day Northern Hemisphere oscillation in z500. The regimes were calculated using a k-means clustering applied to the leading 12 principal components of the combined z500–u250 anomaly fields. We divided the oscillation into eight arbitrary phases. The oscillation phase z500 composite maps are spatially well correlated with regime z500 composites: phases 1–2 are best correlated with the Arctic Low, phases 3–5 are best correlated with the Pacific Trough, phase 6 is best correlated with the Arctic High, and phases 7–8 are best correlated with the Alaskan Ridge. We found that these correlations are generally consistent with the regimes that tend to occur during the individual oscillation phases: the Arctic Low occurs above significance in phases 1–2, the Pacific Trough occurs above significance in phase 3, and Alaskan Ridge occurs above significance in phases 7–8. Therefore, the oscillation has a preferred order with respect to the regimes. The regime transitions indicate a pattern that moves through the Pacific Wavetrain, a regime that appears for k = 5 as a mean state. Transitions out of this regime into different regimes are preferred in different phases of the oscillation. These results imply a possible enhancement to regime prediction using the low-frequency oscillations in combination with regimes. Significance Statement: Subseasonal prediction, weather forecasting in the 2–4-week range, is important for many parts of society, e.g., water managers, emergency response units, and farmers. However, current prediction skill in this time range is low. This paper performs an initial analysis of a possible method to increase weather statistic prediction skill beyond 10 days in the winter for the Pacific–North America region. This is done by combining two ways of looking at large, long-lasting patterns of pressure systems in the atmosphere, which are associated with various weather statistics like precipitation extremes and storminess. The results indicate this method holds potential skill for enhancing subseasonal prediction. Further investigation might yield forecasting improvements in this important time range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global perspective presented here is built on earlier papers discussing the dynamics of the upper branch of the Hadley cell in the two solsticial seasons. The role of the tropics is made explicit in a conceptual model that is presented and evaluated. The fluctuation of deep tropical convection in longitude and time is seen as crucial. The filamentary outflows from such convective events move westward and across the equator deep into the winter hemisphere. The horizontal tilt of the cross-equatorial flow implies a significant upper-tropospheric flux of westerly momentum from the winter tropics to the summer hemisphere. These properties are related to the cross-equatorial propagation of wave activity triggered by deep tropical convection in the summer hemisphere. The filaments carry with them near-equatorial values of absolute vorticity and potential vorticity. After turning anticyclonically, some filaments move eastward and poleward to the equatorial edge of the winter subtropical jet. There is strong evidence they can interact with the eddies on this jet and enhance their poleward westerly momentum flux. In the global perspective, tropical and extratropical systems and the interaction between them are all important for the dynamics of the upper branch of the Hadley cell. significance statement: The Hadley cell is the large-scale overturning in the atmosphere with air in the upper troposphere moving from the equatorial region to near 30° in the winter hemisphere. In the standard view it is midlatitude weather systems that are responsible for removing angular momentum from this upper branch of the Hadley cell. Here it is proposed that tropical systems and their interaction with the midlatitude systems are also important. Insight into the role of the tropics in the dynamics of the Hadley cell can be obtained by considering it as the sum of many events of active deep convection occurring in different longitudes and at different times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The summer atmospheric heat source (AHS) over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) induces meridional circulations in TP and its surrounding areas. Previous studies mainly focused on the monsoon circulation on the south side of TP, while the formation and maintenance mechanisms of meridional circulation on its north side remain unclear. This study compared three calculation methods of the AHS, analyzed the spatial–temporal variability of the summer AHS over the TP, and discussed its influence on the interannual variability of meridional circulation on the north side of the TP based on the two-dimensional decomposition method of atmospheric circulation and sensitivity experiments. The results indicate that in the positive AHS anomalies years, the diabatic heating of condensation latent release in southeastern TP could motivate anomalous ascending motion. Simultaneously, the increased meridional temperature gradient between the mid- and high latitudes of East Asia leads to an enhanced southward westerly jet. In this context, the region on the north side of TP, located on the north side of the westerly jet entrance, is affected by negative anomalous relative vorticity advection, prevailing anomalous descending motion, which makes the descending branch of meridional circulation significantly presented. Unlike previous studies that considered the descending branch of meridional circulation as the compensation for upward flow, the results of the linear baroclinic model (LBM) verify that the descending branch is mainly influenced by the vorticity advection related to regional scale variability of the westerly jet. This study reveals the physical mechanism of meridional circulation on the north side of TP, which offers valuable implications for seasonal forecasting in TP and Northwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the spatiotemporal variations of the summer frequency of daytime–nighttime compound extreme high-temperature events (FCEHEs) in the mid–high latitudes of Asia (MHA) from 1979 to 2014. Results show that FCEHE has shown an upward trend with fluctuations, especially in Mongolia–Baikal. The descending anomaly caused by the anomalous high pressure over Mongolia–Baikal results in reduced cloud cover, which increases solar radiation reaching the ground, favoring the higher FCEHE. This process is consistent during the daytime and nighttime periods, with relatively limited nighttime solar radiation, potentially compensated by the increased downward longwave radiation to sustain the extreme high temperatures. This benefit process is closely connected with two main factors: the increased sea ice in the Barents Sea during spring and the anomalously warm sea surface temperature (SST) in the Northwest Pacific during summer. The increased sea ice can affect the Eurasia (EU) teleconnection, while the warm SST affects the Pacific-Japan/East Asia–Pacific pattern (PJ/EAP). Subsequently, these factors further modulate the circulation anomalies and then FCEHE. Significance Statement: This study provides valuable insights into the spatiotemporal variations and the possible underlying mechanisms for change in the frequency of daytime–nighttime compound extreme high-temperature events (FCEHEs) in the mid–high latitudes of Asia. The spring sea ice anomalies over the Barents Sea and summer sea surface temperature anomalies in the Northwest Pacific affect the local anticyclonic circulation in Mongolia–Baikal through Eurasia (EU) and Pacific-Japan/East Asia–Pacific (PJ/EAP) patterns, respectively. The resulting descending anomaly and reduced cloud cover contribute to interannual variations of FCEHE, which is highly similar during the daytime and nighttime periods. During the nighttime, when the solar radiation is relatively limited, the increased downward longwave radiation may compensate to sustain extreme high temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spring Pacific meridional mode (PMM) is an important precursor of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, recent studies reported that only about half of the spring PMM events were followed by ENSO events. This study examines the role of internal climate variability in modulating the impact of PMM on ENSO using 100-member ensemble simulations of the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM). The relationship between spring PMM and following winter ENSO shows a large spread among the 100 members. The variation of spring Aleutian low (AL) intensity is identified to be an important factor modulating the PMM–ENSO relation. The spring AL affects the PMM–ENSO relationship by modifying PMM-generated low-level zonal wind anomalies over the tropical western Pacific. The strengthening of the spring AL is accompanied by westerly wind anomalies over the midlatitude northwestern Pacific, leading to sea surface temperature (SST) cooling there via an enhancement of upward surface heat flux. This results in increased meridional SST gradient and leads to northerly wind anomalies over the subtropical northwestern Pacific, which turn to surface westerly wind anomalies after reaching the equatorial western Pacific due to the conservation of potential vorticity. Thus, the low-level westerly (easterly) wind anomalies over the tropical western Pacific associated with the positive (negative) spring PMM were strengthened (weakened), which further contributes to an enhanced (a weakened) PMM–ENSO relation. The mechanism for the modulation of the AL on the spring PMM–ENSO relationship is verified by a set of AGCM simulations. This study suggests that the condition of the spring AL should be considered when predicting ENSO on the basis of the PMM. Significance Statement: Spring Pacific meridional mode (PMM) is a predictor of ENSO, but not all spring PMM events are accompanied by the occurrence of ENSO events. This study aims to explore the influence of internal climate variability on the relationship between spring PMM and following ENSO. It is revealed that the Aleutian low exerts a crucial modulation on the spring PMM–ENSO relationship. The underlying physical mechanisms for the impact of the Aleutian low on the relationship between spring PMM and ENSO are further examined. The results of this study have important implications for improving the prediction of ENSO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying temperature probability distributions and the physical processes that shape them is important for understanding extreme temperature events. Previous work has used a conditional mean temperature framework to reveal whether horizontal temperature advection drives temperature to extreme or median values at a specific location as a method to dynamically interpret temperature probability distributions. In this paper, we generalize this method to study how other processes shape temperature probability distributions and explore the diverse effects of horizontal temperature advection on temperature probability distributions at different locations and different temperature percentiles. We apply this generalized method to several representative regions to demonstrate its use. We find that temperature advection drives temperatures toward more extreme values over most land in the midlatitudes (i.e., cold air advection occurs during cold anomalies and warm air advection occurs during warm anomalies). In contrast, we find that horizontal temperature advection dampens temperature anomalies in some coastal summer monsoon regions, where extreme temperatures result from other processes, such as horizontal humidity advection and vertical temperature advection. By calculating the mean of processes conditioned on the temperature percentile, this method enables composite analysis of processes that contribute to events for all percentiles and a range of processes. We show examples of composites at different percentiles for certain processes and regions to illustrate the conditional mean analysis. This general approach may benefit future studies related to temperature probability distributions and extreme events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can influence the East Asian winter climate by modifying the atmospheric circulation over the western North Pacific (WNP). While the impact on precipitation in southeastern China has been extensively studied, the ENSO signal in surface air temperature (SAT) remains overlooked. In this paper, we identify robust ENSO footprints in the winter daily minimum SAT in southeastern China, with El Niño winters generally accompanied by warmer-than-normal minimum SAT anomalies. In contrast, the responses of maximum SAT are weak and negligible, suggesting a diurnal cycle–dependent ENSO influence. Further analysis indicates that this diurnal cycle dependence stems primarily from the disparate surface radiative heating between day and night induced by ENSO-related local total cloud cover (TCC) change. The warmer minimum SAT occurring in the early morning of El Niño winters is mainly caused by the enhanced surface downward longwave radiative heating as a result of the TCC increase. However, in the afternoon of El Niño winters, although the anomalous horizontal advection of warm air plays a role, there is surface radiative cooling as the weakening of solar radiation due to TCC reflection overwhelms the increase in downward longwave radiation, which leads to a weakened sensible heat flux and thus has a cooling effect on the SAT. Ultimately, these two processes effectively cancel each other out and together produce insignificant maximum SAT responses. Our conclusions carry important implications for the seasonal to interannual winter climate prediction in southeastern China. Significance Statement The purpose of this study is to better understand how ENSO influences winter surface air temperature in southeastern China. Despite insignificant responses of winter daily maximum temperature to ENSO, we find here a robust ENSO influence on the daily minimum temperature, with warm anomalies tending to occur during El Niño events. Further evidence suggests that this diurnal cycle–dependent ENSO influence is mainly caused by ENSO-induced change in local cloudiness, which has a different radiative heating effect between day and night. Our findings are of great importance for improving regional climate prediction, which will benefit social and economic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea surface temperature (SST) is characterized by abundant warm and cold structures that influence the overlying atmospheric boundary layer dynamics through two different mechanisms. First, turbulence and large eddies in the lower troposphere are affected by atmospheric stability, which can be modified by local SST, resulting in enhanced vertical mixing and larger surface winds over warmer waters. Second, the thermodynamic adjustment of air density to the underlying SST structures and the subsequent changes in atmospheric pressure drive secondary circulations. This paper aims to disentangle the effects of these processes and explore the environmental conditions that favor them. Two main environmental variables are considered: the large-scale air–sea temperature difference (proxy for stability) and wind speed. Using 5 years of daily reanalyses data, we investigate the 10-m wind response to SST structures. Based on linear regression between wind divergence and SST derivatives, we show that both mechanisms operate over a large spectrum of conditions. Ten-meter wind divergence is strongly impacted by the local SST via its effect on vertical mixing for midwind regimes in slightly unstable to near-neutral conditions, whereas the secondary circulation is important in two distinct regimes: low wind speed with a slightly unstable air column and high background wind speed with a very unstable air column. The first regime is explained by the prolonged Lagrangian time that the air parcel stays over an SST structure while the second one is related to strong heat fluxes at the air–sea interface, which greatly modify the marine atmospheric boundary layer properties. Location and frequency of the environmentally favorable conditions are discussed, as well as the response in low-cloud cover and rainfall. Significance Statement: The main objective of this study is to explore the wind response to thermal structures at the sea surface under different environmental conditions using the latest atmospheric reanalysis. Recent literature suggests that fine-scale air–sea interactions affect a large spectrum of atmospheric dynamics, from seasonal to weather-type regimes. It is thus important to characterize the atmospheric response to ocean surface variability. Our findings describe the environmental conditions for which the two main physical processes through which the atmosphere responds to sea surface temperature structures are active the most and can guide the development of high-resolution observing missions and campaigns in specific geographical locations and seasons to retrieve data that can be used to improve parameterization in models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of interactive ocean dynamics on internal variations of Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) is investigated by comparing preindustrial control simulations of a fully coupled atmosphere–ocean–ice model to the same atmosphere–ice model with the ocean replaced by a motionless slab layer (henceforth slab ocean model). Differences in SST variability between the two models are diagnosed by an optimization technique that finds components whose variance differs as much as possible. This technique reveals that Atlantic SST variability differs significantly between the two models. The two components with the most extreme enhancement of SST variance in the slab ocean model resemble the tripole SST pattern associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) pattern. This result supports previous claims that ocean dynamics are not necessary for the AMV, although ocean dynamics lead to slight increases in the memory of both the AMV and the NAO tripole. The component with the most extreme enhancement of SST variance in the fully coupled model resembles the Atlantic Niño pattern, confirming the ability of our technique to isolate physical modes known to require ocean dynamics. The second component with more variance in the fully coupled model is a mode of subpolar SST variability. Both the reemergence of SST anomalies and changes in ocean heat transport lead to increased SST variance and memory in the subpolar Atlantic. Despite large differences in the mean and variability of SST, atmospheric variability is quite similar between the two models, confirming that most atmospheric variability is generated by internal atmospheric dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat lows are key features of subtropical climates and monsoon systems. In southern Africa, they are pivotal to understanding divergent climate change projections, in particular the veracity of future rainfall decline. Compared to other heat lows, including in West Africa and Australia, the southern African heat low remains poorly documented. Here, we analyze the diurnal cycle, seasonal variability, and trends of the heat low in reanalysis data. In ERA5, 462 strong heat low days are detected between September and March from 1990 to 2019, equating to 7.3% of days sampled. These events feature ascent (exceeding −0.2 Pa s−1) at low levels (strongest between 800 and 600 hPa) and subsidence aloft, generating low-level cyclonic flow with anticyclonic flow above. This flow exhibits strong diurnal variability, with peak windspeeds between 0600 and 0900 UTC and maximum ascent at ∼2300 UTC. Heat lows form preferentially over Angola in September (∼14°S) and October (15°–20°S), and in Namibia from November to March (∼20°–26°S). Strongest ascent occurs over areas of high elevation. Finally, we show a rapidly increasing frequency of strong heat low days, with a 175% increase between 1960–89 and 1990–2019. The greatest increase (459%) has occurred in the early summer months of September and October, consistent with projections of delayed rainfall onset. Strikingly, more strong heat lows are detected in the most recent 5 years of analysis (2014–19) than in the 30-yr period from 1960 to 1989. These results suggest the heat low is an important feature in determining drying trends over southern Africa and is a vital indicator of climate model accuracy. Significance Statement: This work documents the heat low that forms in southern Africa in the lowest levels of the atmosphere. The feature is present during austral summer (from September to March) and is associated with below average rainfall across much of the subcontinent. The frequency of strong heat lows has rapidly increased in line with regional amplified warming trends. The heat low is identified as an important control on circulation and precipitation patterns and changes in the frequency or intensity of the feature in the future are likely to influence the strength of declining rainfall trends across southern Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate models generally predict a poleward shift of the midlatitude circulation in response to climate change induced by increased greenhouse gas concentration, but the intermodel spread of the eddy-driven jet shift is large and poorly understood. Recent studies point to the significance of midlatitude midtropospheric diabatic heating for the intermodel spread in the jet latitude. To examine the role of diabatic heating in the jet response to climate change, a series of simulations are performed using an idealized aquaplanet model. It is found that both increased CO2 concentration and increased saturation vapor pressure induce a similar warming response, leading to a poleward and upward shift of the midlatitude circulation. An exception to this poleward shift is found for a certain range of temperatures, where the eddy-driven jet shifts equatorward, while the latitude of the eddy heat flux remains essentially unchanged. This equatorward jet shift is explained by the connection between the zonal-mean momentum and heat budgets: increased diabatic heating in the midlatitude midtroposphere balances the cooling by the Ferrel cell ascending branch, enabling an equatorward shift of the Ferrel cell streamfunction and eddy-driven jet, while the latitude of the eddy heat flux remains unchanged. The equatorward jet shift and the strengthening of the midlatitude diabatic heating are found to be sensitive to the model resolution. The implications of these results for a potential reduction in the jet shift uncertainty through the improvement of convective parameterizations are discussed. Significance Statement: The latitude of the eddy-driven jet displays considerable variation in climate models, and the factors influencing this variability are poorly understood. This work connects the strength of midlatitude diabatic heating to the structure of the midlatitude circulation and the eddy-driven jet latitude. The direction of the eddy-driven jet shift in response to climate change is found to depend on the diabatic heating response, which in turn depends on the parameterized convective heating. These results highlight the role of convective parameterizations in the representation of the midlatitude circulation in climate models. Additionally, the results imply that the eddy-driven jet shift cannot be explained solely based on the storm-track response to climate change, in contrast with previously suggested explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early summer is a peak time for tropical cyclone (TC) activities over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and a period of South Asian monsoon onset, and the TCs during this time have a significant impact on the water vapor transport associated with monsoons. This study investigates the anomalous characteristics of the dynamic–thermal atmospheric circulation structure and water vapor budget over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) under the influence of BoB TCs generated in May from 1979 to 2020 with JTWC best track data and ERA5 data. Results reveal that a significant southerly water vapor channel forms from the BoB to the southeastern TP with a water vapor convergence near the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon. A part of the water vapor is transported directly to the TP by deep southerly jet, while the other part is lifted by TCs and then climbs upward to the TP by two uplift processes occurring on the southern slope of the TP and over the TP respectively, which makes the whole troposphere over the southeastern TP warmer and wetter. It is found that anomalous southeasterly airflow in the northeast of TC circulation turns to anomalous southwesterly airflow forming an abnormal anticyclonic circulation over the southern TP in the middle and upper troposphere due to the diabatic heating effect. In this process, the TP acts as an anomalous water vapor sink with remarkable water vapor inflow through its southern boundary, with the main water vapor outflow through the eastern boundary, but a weak easterly water vapor backflow to the eastern TP in the lower troposphere. Significance Statement: This study attempts to investigate the anomalous features of the water vapor budget over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) under the influence of the Bay of Bengal (BoB) tropical cyclones (TCs) during early summer. Results show that a significant southerly water vapor channel forms from the BoB to the southeastern TP with a water vapor convergence near the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon. The TP acts as an anomalous water vapor sink with more and higher water vapor inflows through the southern boundary of the TP. A positive temperature and humidity anomaly can be found over the southeastern TP extending upward into the middle and upper troposphere. The results are helpful to understand how the BoB TCs affect the weather process over the TP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A main source of regional climate change uncertainty is the large disparity across models in simulating the atmospheric circulation response to global warming. Using the latest suite of global climate models from the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6), a storyline approach is adopted to derive physically plausible scenarios of Antarctic climate change for 2070–99, according to Shared Socioeconomic Pathway SSP5-8.5. These storylines correspond to differences in the simulated amount of seasonal sea ice loss and either (i) the delay in the summertime stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) breakdown or (ii) wintertime SPV strengthening, which together constitute robust drivers of the response pattern to future climate change. Such changes combined are known to exert a strong control over the Southern Hemisphere midlatitude jet stream, which we quantify as collectively explaining up to 70% of the variance in jet response in summer and 35% in winter. For summer, the expected strengthening and displacement of the tropospheric jet stream varies between a ∼1 and 2 m s−1 increase and ∼2°–4° poleward shift, respectively, across storylines. In both seasons, a larger strengthening of the jet is correlated with less Antarctic warming. By contrast, the response in precipitation is more consistent but still strongly attenuated by large-scale dynamics. We find that an increase in high-latitude precipitation around Antarctica is more pronounced for storylines characterized by a greater poleward jet shift, particularly in summer. Our results highlight the usefulness of the storyline approach in illustrating model uncertainty and understanding the processes that determine the spread in projected Antarctic regional climate response. Significance Statement: Uncertainty in future climate predictions for the Antarctic is dominated by the unknown response of the large-scale (global) atmospheric circulation. In characterizing such uncertainty, plausible outcomes of climate response (storylines) are generated from the organization of model projections according to the amount of simulated seasonal sea ice loss and the delay in summertime breakdown/winter strengthening of the stratospheric westerly circulation (polar vortex). The intensity and location of the tropospheric jet stream is strongly dependent on both factors, which strongly influences the near-surface climate response over Antarctica. We find that the simulated amount that Antarctic air temperatures increase by in the future (to the end of the century) is intrinsically related to the projected intensification of the Southern Hemisphere tropospheric jet, varying by a factor of 2 or more across storylines for summer. Storylines with greater jet strengthening are associated with less Antarctic warming (reduced poleward advection of air masses from lower latitudes). Similar differences are found for changes in jet position, which we note has a much stronger control on mid- to high-latitude precipitation response. This includes both an enhanced wetting response around Antarctica and drying response farther equatorward, for storylines characterized by a greater poleward jet shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Convection initiations (CIs) observed using the advanced geosynchronous radiation imager on the Chinese Fengyun-4A satellite were identified over the middle reaches of the Yangtze River basin during warm season (May–September) of 2018–21. A hybrid objective tracking algorithm combining the conventional area overlapping with the Kalman filter method was applied. Subsequently, spatial and temporal variations in the identified CIs and their synoptic circulation patterns were analyzed. The frequency of CIs was highest in August and lowest in May. Nearly 81% of CIs occurred during noon–afternoon (1100–1859 LST), with the highest frequency in the southern mountains of the study region, whereas the CIs with relatively low frequency moved to the plains from afternoon to morning (1700–1059 LST). The diurnal variation of CIs throughout the study region exhibited a unimodal structure, with a peak appearing at noon (1200–1259 LST). CIs during noon–afternoon in July and August had faster cloud-top cooling rates. The synoptic circulations without tropical cyclones during noon–afternoon hours were classified into four patterns by hierarchical clustering; two dominant patterns (i.e., SW-Flows and S-Flows) had broader areas of higher most unstable convective available potential energy (MUCAPE), whereas the 0–3-km shear (SHR3) was the weakest in the S-Flows pattern. It was clear that the high-frequency areas of CIs were most likely to occur in stronger MUCAPE and weaker SHR3 environments, and CIs were more controlled by thermally unstable environments. We further illustrated that CIs tend to concentrate in unstable and moisture flux convergence areas affected by mountains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the East China Sea–Kuroshio (EK) region has important implications for the surrounding weather, climate, and marine ecology. The year-to-year variations of the EK SST are expectedly linked to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the predominant predictability source of seasonal-to-interannual climate variability. Surprisingly, no significant SST signal is observed in the EK region when focusing on the ENSO autumn–winter season with the persistent and pronounced SST anomalies in the tropical Pacific. We find that a remarkable seasonal reversal appears in the ENSO–EK SST connection, shifting from a negative relationship in autumn [Aug(0)–Oct(0)] to a positive relationship in winter [Dec(0)–Feb(1)]. This reversal is mainly attributed to the seasonally varying ENSO-associated western North Pacific (WNP) atmospheric circulation patterns. During ENSO autumns, the anomalous WNP anticyclone is confined south of 20°N, which is accompanied with cyclonic circulation anomalies in the EK region. The associated anomalous northerly wind tends to enhance the background northerly wind, thereby facilitating the local SST cooling mainly via the wind–evaporation–SST effect. In the subsequent winter, the ENSO-related WNP anticyclonic anomalies intensify and extend toward the EK region. Consequently, the weakened background northerly wind induced by southerly wind anomalies leads to the increase of downward latent and sensible heat flux in the EK region, fostering the local SST warming. The observed seasonal reversal of ENSO impacts can be evidenced by the tropical Pacific pacemaker experiments, emphasizing the importance of seasonally modulated ENSO teleconnection and holding implications for the local SST climate prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anomalies in atmospheric moisture transport are critical for drought formation, with East Asian monsoon anomalies identified as the primary driver of droughts in East Asia. However, the drought mechanism for the border region between monsoon and nonmonsoon land areas remains unclear due to complex interactions between latitudinal circulation patterns. Using a Lagrangian framework, we quantify moisture supply (MS) during spring and summer drought events within the border region, specifically Northeast China (NEC). Our results reveal that decreased MS from monsoon land areas is more crucial than nonmonsoon land areas and local areas for NEC droughts, with the local water recycling playing a more substantial role in summer than in spring. On average, summer droughts are 4 times more intense than spring droughts. Contributions to MS deficits from monsoon land areas, nonmonsoon land areas, and local areas during spring (summer) droughts are 43.2% (43.8%), 25.1% (19.2%), and 22% (33.8%), respectively. The weakened atmospheric circulation from source regions to NEC contributes to over 80% of MS deficits during droughts. Atmospheric wave trains triggered by North Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) gradients, along with the weakening of the East Asian subtropical westerly jet in spring and a positive phase of the polar–Eurasian teleconnection in summer, contribute to spring and summer droughts, respectively. A sustained, record-breaking positive SSTA along the western European coast from the spring to summer excited a wave train, and resulted in the extreme 2017 spring–summer drought. These findings provide valuable insights into the drought mechanism within the interaction zone of circulation systems from different latitudes. Significance Statement: The complex interactions between atmospheric circulation patterns at different latitudes have led to an insufficient understanding of the mechanisms causing extreme drought in the border region between the monsoon and nonmonsoon land areas. This study aims to investigate the drought mechanisms in the border region from the perspective of moisture tracking. Results indicate a moisture supply deficit from the monsoon region contributes the most (approximately half) to droughts, although the majority of air parcels reaching this region originate from the nonmonsoon region. The weakening of circulation contributes to more than 80% of the moisture supply deficit during droughts, far exceeding the impact of reduced evaporation from the moisture source regions. These findings are conducive to understanding the mechanisms of extreme drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the ERA5 reanalysis data and the Climate Feedback Response Analysis Method (CFRAM), we attribute the mechanism of summer upper-tropospheric temperature (UTT) variations in the South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) region to several external forcing and internal feedback processes. The summer UTT in the SASM region is dominated by two modes. The first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) mode (EOF1) is a monopolar warming pattern, and the second EOF mode (EOF2) shows a meridional dipole pattern. CFRAM results show that summer UTT anomalies are mainly attributed to cloud feedback and nonradiative processes of atmospheric dynamics (ATD) and surface-related processes. For EOF1, ocean heat storage and partial cloud feedback processes contribute most UTT anomalies over the Indian Ocean. The ATD increases the UTT over East Asia through the adiabatic warming caused by anomalous anticyclone in the upper troposphere. The formation of EOF2 is closely linked to the ATD, while the cloud process partially compensates for the excessive changes in UTT caused by the ATD. The South Asian high and its circulation in the midlatitude region are significantly enhanced. The anomalous anticyclone over northern East Asia along with the anomalous easterly wind on the south side of the South Asian high favors increased warm advection and adiabatic heating, contributing to the warming of UTT. Meanwhile, adiabatic cooling resulting from the atmospheric ascent in the middle and upper troposphere leads to UTT cooling over the Indian Ocean. The quantitative attribution of UTT has great implications for better understanding future SASM variation. Significance Statement: The purpose of this study is to understand the physical mechanisms of upper-tropospheric temperature (UTT) changes in the South Asian summer monsoon (SASM). Although previous studies have examined temperature variation from the perspective of atmospheric circulation, there has been limited investigation into the influence of various feedback processes. Our study reveals that the summer UTT in the SASM region is dominated by monopolar and meridional dipole modes. Utilizing a climate feedback–response analysis method, we attribute the UTT anomalies in the SASM region to the cloud feedback, oceanic heat storage, and atmospheric dynamics processes, and explore the physical mechanisms of their effects. These results have important implications for the better prediction of monsoon variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The link between weather regimes (WRs) and polar low (PL) activity is examined over the North Atlantic and North Pacific basins. Compared to earlier studies based on limited, regional PL datasets, our study conducts a more complete evaluation of regional WR–PL relationships using an expanded PL climatology. Our findings show that PL activity is increased over the Norwegian and Barents Seas during the Atlantic ridge regime and decreased over the former region during the Scandinavian blocking regime, with negative impacts also stretching to the Irminger Sea. Over the Labrador and Irminger Seas, PL activity is modulated strongest by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), with positive impacts during the positive phase and vice versa. Over the North Pacific, the Arctic low contributes to increased PL activity over most regions, while the opposite is true for the Pacific wave train regime. The variability of PL activity associated with WRs is strongly related to changes in key environmental conditions. In general, regions of enhanced (reduced) PL activity are coincident with anomalous low-level northerly (southerly) flow and reduced (increased) static stability. Further analysis shows that certain persistent WRs can strongly modulate PL activity over some regions, either due to the amplification or propagation of favorable or unfavorable conditions, which cautions the limitation of regarding WRs as stationary patterns. A previously developed PL genesis potential index is shown to represent the observed impacts well, which serves to confirm the robustness of our findings and suggests the potential applicability of WRs to the subseasonal prediction of PLs. Significance Statement: Polar lows are intense small-scale (∼300 km) cyclones that form over high-latitude oceanic regions. The hazardous impacts they pose to coastal communities and maritime and air operations in the Arctic motivate their skillful prediction, which remains a major challenge at lead times beyond a few days. In this study, we relate PLs and the key environmental conditions that favor their development to weather regimes, which are recurrent large-scale circulation patterns that can persist for weeks at a time. We find that weather regimes have strong impacts on polar low activity through the modulation of key environmental conditions. These relationships can potentially be utilized in the extended-range prediction of polar lows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates dominant features of the atmospheric circulation evolution associated with extreme heat waves (HWs) in Russia during the summers of 2010 and 2016, respectively, and their possible association with Arctic sea ice loss. Results show that a region of Russia (20°–70°E, 45°–65°N) experienced a lasting 44-day HW event from 4 July to 16 August 2010 and a 26-day HW event from 2 to 27 August 2016. The associated atmospheric circulation anomalies are characterized by the summer Arctic cold anomaly in the mid- to low troposphere and an anticyclonic circulation anomaly over the Ural Mountains. Simulation experiments forced by summer Arctic sea ice anomalies reproduce the major characteristics of observational associations. Observations and numerical simulations indicate that summer Arctic sea ice anomaly is conducive to the formation of the summer Arctic cold anomaly, which is often accompanied by the enhanced baroclinicity in most of the Arctic troposphere and increased and decreased meridional temperature gradient in the high and midlatitudes, respectively. Such a configuration strengthens westerly winds over most of the Arctic and weakens zonal westerly over the southern Ural Mountains. This anomalous zonal wind pattern establishes the background conditions for the sustained positive geopotential height anomaly in the mid- to low troposphere that dynamically facilitates the prevalence of Russian HW events. Moreover, when compared with 2016, the weaker meridional potential vorticity gradient anomaly in the summer of 2010 prolonged the persistence of Ural blocking, which may lead to longer HW events in Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meteorological extremes on the seasonal time scale have received increased attention due to their relevance for society and economy. A recently developed approach to identify seasonal extremes is applied here to ERA5 reanalyses from 1950 to 2020 to identify hot and cold, wet and dry, and stormy and calm extreme seasons globally. The approach consists of (i) fitting a statistical model to seasonal mean values (of temperature, precipitation, and wind speed) at each grid point, (ii) selecting a local return period threshold above which seasonal mean values are deemed extreme, and (iii) forming spatially coherent extreme season objects. The paper introduces the ERA5 extreme season explorer, an open-access web portal enabling researchers to visualize and download extreme season objects of any of the six types in their region of interest, for further investigating their underlying dynamics, statistical properties, and impacts. To illustrate the potential of our extreme season objects, we first discuss the top 10 cold winters in ERA5 globally and then focus on an unusual triple-compound extreme season in winter 1953/54 in Europe, which was simultaneously extremely cold, dry, and calm. We show that detailed analysis of weather system dynamics, including cyclones, blocks, jets, and Rossby waves, provides important insight into the processes leading to extreme seasons. In summary, this study presents for the first time a catalogue of objectively identified extreme seasons in the last decades, shows exemplarily how large-scale dynamics can lead to such seasons, and with the help of the explorer supports the community in accelerating research in this important area at the interface of weather and climate dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the use of model cloud information in the assimilation of low-level atmospheric motion vectors (AMVs) in the ECMWF global data assimilation system, with the aim to characterize and address issues encountered in the assimilation of these observations. An analysis of background departure statistics (comparison of observations with the model background) shows that AMVs placed above the model cloud show larger deviations from the model background relative to those placed unrealistically close to the surface. Reassigning the pressure of AMVs diagnosed above the model cloud layer to either the model cloud top, cloud base, or average pressure leads to improvements in rootmean- square vector difference (RMSVD) and speed bias against the background wind fields. In assimilation experiments, reassigning AMVs placed above the model cloud to the model cloud top, cloud base, or average pressure results overall in a positive impact on subsequent forecasts. The reassignment to an average model cloud pressure performs best in this respect, and this approach has been implemented in the operational ECMWF system in October 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial distribution of summer rainfall anomalies over eastern China often shows a tripole pattern with rainfall anomalies over the Yangtze River basin varies in opposite phase with North China and South China. It is not clear whether this tripole pattern is an intrinsic atmospheric mode or it is remotely forced. Using two sets of model outputs from 20 models participating in phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), this paper investigates the driving mechanisms of this leading rainfall mode and its major influencing factors. One set (piControl) is fully coupled atmosphere–ocean simulations under constant preindustrial forcing and the other (sstClim) is atmosphere-alone models forced by prescribed climatological sea surface temperatures (SSTs). By comparing results from these two different sets of simulations, it is found that the tripole pattern is the leading mode of summer precipitation variability over eastern China with or without oceanic forcing. It can be regarded as an intrinsic atmospheric mode although air–sea interaction can modify its temporal variability. The cyclonic–anticyclonic atmospheric circulation anomaly over the northern North Pacific is identified as a key factor in both experiments. As atmospheric internal variability, it is related to a circumglobal zonal wave train propagating along the westerly jet stream. When air–sea interactions involved, modulation from SST anomalies is exerted through the meridional Pacific–Japan/East Asia–Pacific wave train propagating along the East Asian coast. Our results suggest that the North Pacific could be another key region providing potential predictability to the East Asian monsoon in addition to the Indo-Pacific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current coupled climate models contain large biases in simulating tropical cyclogenesis, reducing the confidence in tropical cyclone (TC) projection. In this study, we investigated the influence of sea surface temperature (SST) biases on TC genesis in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 simulations from 1979 to 2014. Positive TC genesis biases were found over the tropical central North Pacific (CNP) in most of climate models, including the high-resolution models. Compared to coupled models, TC genesis density (TCGD) simulations over CNP in uncoupled models forced by observational SST improved obviously. A warm SST bias over the tropical CNP in the coupled models is the main cause of TC genesis biases. The SST bias–induced diabatic heating leads to an anomalous Gill-type atmospheric circulation response, which contributes to a series of favorable environmental conditions for TC formation over the CNP. Numerical experiments were also performed with HiRAM to demonstrate the influence of SST biases on the TCGD simulation, further confirming our conclusion. The current results highlight the importance of improving TC simulation in state-of-the-art climate models by reducing SST simulation bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monsoon systems transport water and energy across the globe, making them a central component of the global circulation system. Changes in different forcing parameters have the potential to fundamentally change the monsoon characteristics as indicated in various paleoclimatic records. Here, we use the Atmosphere Model developed at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL-AM2) and couple it with a slab ocean in order to analyze the monsoon's sensitivity to changes in different parameters on a planet with idealized topography (varying land position, slab depth, atmospheric CO2 concentration, solar radiation, sulfate aerosol concentration, and surface albedo). This Monsoon Planet concept of an aquaplanet with a broad zonal land stripe allows us to reduce the influence of topography and to access the relevant meridional monsoon dynamics. In simulations with monsoon dynamics, a bimodal rainfall distribution develops during the monsoon months with one maximum over the tropical ocean and the other one over land. The intensity and extent of the monsoon depend on the relative height of a local maximum in the surface pressure field that is acting as a barrier and is determining the coastward moisture transport. Changes in the barrier height occur during the course of one year but can also be induced when varying different parameters in the sensitivity analysis (e.g., the increase of atmospheric CO2 reduces the barrier height, resulting in an increase of rainfall, while aerosols have the opposing effect). This bimodal rainfall structure separated by a pressure barrier is also present in reanalysis data of the West African monsoon. Significance Statement: Monsoon rainfall directly impacts the livelihood of millions of individuals in the tropics. Because monsoons transport energy and water around the globe, their influence reaches far beyond the tropics, and changes in their dynamics affect the climate both locally and globally. The individual monsoon systems are subject to various forcing factors that determine the monsoon characteristics in partly opposing ways. Here, we implement a model setup of the Monsoon Planet to study the monsoon's sensitivity to various forcings in a simplified design, allowing us to gain new insights into monsoon dynamics. We find that a local maximum in the pressure field is acting as a barrier for moisture transport and thus determines the monsoon characteristics over land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two global atmospheric circulation datasets (ERA5 and NCEP FNL) with horizontal resolutions of 0.25° × 0.25° are investigated in terms of kinetic energy (KE) spectra at 200 hPa (roughly between 11 and 12 km). The horizontal KE (HKE) in NCEP FNL is larger and flatter than that in ERA5 at subsynoptic scales and mesoscales. Restoring the energy of this wavenumber range to the physical space shows that the HKE in NCEP FNL is larger than that in ERA5 over most areas but smaller mainly in the Indo-Pacific warm pool. The spectral budgets show that at these scales, the positive contribution from net vertical flux in ERA5 is stronger than that in NCEP FNL, while the negative contribution from available potential energy (APE) conversion is smaller; assuming that the atmosphere is in a quasi-stationary state, more dissipation is found in ERA5 than in NCEP FNL, which should be responsible for the HKE spectrum in ERA5 to be steeper and weaker than that in NCEP FNL. Our formulation shows that the APE conversion and net vertical flux are related to the pressure vertical velocity (PVV). The APE conversion and net vertical flux differences between the two datasets, like the PVV difference, are mainly from the tropical region. At large scales, the vertical motion in ERA5 is larger than that in NCEP FNL. The amplitude differences of the PVV spectra between two datasets are consistent with those of the large-scale precipitation spectra associated with microphysics parameterizations. These results support that vertical motion is a key dynamical factor explaining energy discrepancies at mesoscales. Significance Statement: The atmospheric kinetic energy spectrum reflects energy distribution characteristics in atmospheric motion at different scales. According to the Helmholtz decomposition, the horizontal wind field can be decomposed into two parts: rotational wind field and divergent wind field. We explore the dynamical causes of the atmospheric energy spectra differences among different datasets from the perspective of rotational and divergent components of motion. Our results reveal that the differences in energy spectra and their energy budget at scales below a few hundred kilometers are relatively significant in tropical regions and are closely related to vertical motion. A better understanding of the differences in kinetic energy spectra will contribute to the improvement of atmospheric models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is challenging to accurately characterize the three-dimensional distribution of horizontal wind vectors (known as 3D winds). Feature-matching satellite cloud top or water vapor fields have been used for decades to retrieve atmospheric motion vectors, but this approach is mostly limited to a single and uncertain pressure level at a given time. Satellite wind lidar measurements are expected to provide more accurate data and capture the line-of-sight wind for clear skies, within cirrus clouds, and above thick clouds, but only along a curtain parallel to the satellite track. Here we propose Vientos—a new satellite mission concept that combines two or more passive water vapor sounders with Doppler wind lidar to measure 3D winds. The need for 3D wind observations is highlighted by inconsistencies in reanalysis estimates, particularly under precipitating conditions. Recent studies have shown that 3D winds can be retrieved using water vapor observations from two polar-orbiting satellites separated by 50 min, with the help of advanced optical flow algorithms. These winds can be improved through the incorporation of a small number of collocated higher-accuracy measurements via machine learning. The Vientos concept would enable simultaneous measurements of 3D winds, temperature, and humidity, and is expected to have a significant impact on scientific research, weather prediction, and other applications. For example, it can help better understand and predict the preconditions for organized convection. This article summarizes recent results, presents the Vientos mission architecture, and discusses implementation scenarios for a 3D wind mission under current budget constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is a lack of investigating moisture sources for precipitation over the upstream catchment of the Three Gorges Dam (UCTGD), the world's largest dam. Using the dynamical recycling model (DRM), trajectory frequency method (TFM), and the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR), this study quantifies moisture sources and transport paths for UCTGD summer precipitation from 1980 to 2009 based on two categories of sources: region-specific and source-direction. Overall, the land and oceanic sources contribute roughly 63% and 37%, respectively, of the moisture to UCTGD summer precipitation. UCTGD and the Indian Ocean are the most important land and oceanic sources, respectively, in which the southern Indian Ocean with over 10% of moisture contribution was overlooked previously. Under the influence of the Asian monsoon and prevailing westerlies, the land contribution decreases to 57.3% in June, then gradually increases to 68.8%. It is found that for drought years with enhanced southwest monsoon, there is a weakening of the moisture contribution from the C-shaped belt along the Arabian Sea, South Asia, and UCTGD, and vice versa. TFM results show three main moisture transport paths and highlight the importance of moisture from the southwest. Comparison analysis indicates that, generally, sink regions are more affected by land evaporation with their locations more interior to the center of the mainland. Furthermore, correlations between moisture contributions and indices of general circulation and sea surface temperature are investigated, suggesting that these indices affect precipitation by influencing moisture contributions of the subregions. All of these are useful for comprehending the causes of summer UCTGD precipitation. Significance Statement: Quantitative research on the moisture sources of summer precipitation has been implemented for the upstream catchment of the Three Gorges Dam (UCTGD), which is of particular hydrological significance but has not been investigated previously. The dynamical recycling model (DRM)–trajectory frequency method (TFM) approach is used to quantify and interpret the results of the moisture sources both in different specific subregions and directions, which produce more meaningful results than a single method for the areal division of moisture sources. Furthermore, antecedent indices that significantly influence the following moisture contributions of the subregions and then summer UCTGD precipitation are studied in terms of large-scale general circulation indices, which would help our understanding of precipitation forecast for UCTGD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Future Arctic sea ice loss has a known impact on Arctic amplification (AA) and mean atmospheric circulation. Furthermore, several studies have shown it leads to a decreased variance in temperature over North America. In this study, we analyze results from two fully coupled Community Earth System Model (CESM) Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM4) simulations with sea ice nudged to either the ensemble mean of WACCM historical runs averaged over the 1980–99 period for the control (CTL) or projected RCP8.5 values over the 2080–99 period for the experiment (EXP). Dominant large-scale meteorological patterns (LSMPs) are then identified using self-organizing maps applied to winter daily 500-hPa geopotential height anomalies ( Z 500 ′ ) over North America. We investigate how sea ice loss (EXP − CTL) impacts the frequency of these LSMPs and, through composite analysis, the sensible weather associated with them. We find differences in LSMP frequency but no change in residency time, indicating there is no stagnation of the flow with sea ice loss. Sea ice loss also acts to de-amplify and/or shift the Z 500 ′ that characterize these LSMPs and their associated anomalies in potential temperature at 850 hPa. Impacts on precipitation anomalies are more localized and consistent with changes in anomalous sea level pressure. With this LSMP framework we provide new mechanistic insights, demonstrating a role for thermodynamic, dynamic, and diabatic processes in sea ice impacts on atmospheric variability. Understanding these processes from a synoptic perspective is critical as some LSMPs play an outsized role in producing the mean response to Arctic sea ice loss. Significance Statement: The goal of this study is to understand how future Arctic sea ice loss might impact daily weather patterns over North America. We use a global climate model to produce one set of simulations where sea ice is similar to present conditions and another that represents conditions at the end of the twenty-first century. Daily patterns in large-scale circulation at roughly 5.5 km in altitude are then identified using a machine learning method. We find that sea ice loss tends to de-amplify these patterns and their associated impacts on temperature nearer the surface. Our methodology allows us to probe more deeply into the mechanisms responsible for these changes, which provides a new way to understand how sea ice loss can impact the daily weather we experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), with its twice-annual passage over central Africa, is considered as the main driver of the rainfall seasonality. In this ITCZ paradigm, high rainfall occurs over regions of large low-level convergence. But recently, this paradigm was challenged over central Africa. Here, we show that a shallow meridional overturning circulation—driven by surface conditions—plays a thermodynamical control on the rainfall seasonality over central Africa. Indeed, due to the local evaporative cooling effect, the foot of the ascending branch of Hadley cells occurs where the temperature is the warmest, indicating a thermal low. This distorts the southern Hadley cell by developing its bottom-heavy structure. As result, both shallow and deep Hadley cells coexist over central Africa year-round. The deep mode is associated with the poleward transport of atmospheric energy at upper levels. The shallow mode is characterized by a shallow meridional circulation, with its moisture transport vanishing and converging in the midtroposphere rather than at lower troposphere. This midtropospheric moisture convergence is also the dominant component that shapes the vertically integrated moisture flux convergence, with little contribution of African easterly jets. This convergence zone thus controls the precipitating convection. Its meridional migration highlights the interhemispheric rainfall contrast over central Africa and outlines the unimodal seasonality. On the other hand, forced by the Congo basin cell, the precipitable water regulates the deep convection from the vegetated surface of Congo basin, acting as a continental sea. This nonlinear mechanism separates the rainfall into three distinct regimes: the moisture-convergence-controlled regime, with convective rainfall exclusively occurring in the rainy season; the local evaporation-controlled regime with drizzle in the dry season; and the precipitable-water-controlled regime, with exponential rainfall increase in the dry season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic and thermodynamic mechanisms that link retreating sea ice to increased Arctic cloud amount and cloud water content are unclear. Using the fifth generation of the ECMWF Reanalysis (ERA5), the long-term changes between years 1950-79 and 1990-2019 in Arctic clouds are estimated along with their relationship to sea ice loss. A comparison of ERA5 to CERES satellite cloud fractions reveals that ERA5 simulates the seasonal cycle, variations, and changes of cloud fraction well over water surfaces during 2001-20. This suggests that ERA5 may reliably represent the cloud response to sea ice loss because melting sea ice exposes more water surfaces in the Arctic. Increases in ERA5 Arctic cloud fraction and water content are largest during October-March from ~950 to 700 hPa over areas with significant (>15%) sea ice loss. Further, regions with significant sea ice loss experience higher convective available potential energy (~2-2.75 J kg-1), planetary boundary layer height (~120-200 m), and near-surface specific humidity (~0.25-0.40 g kg-1) and a greater reduction of the lower-tropospheric temperature inversion (~3°-4℃) than regions with small (<15%) sea ice loss in autumn and winter. Areas with significant sea ice loss also show strengthened upward motion between 1000 and 700 hPa, enhanced horizontal convergence (divergence) of air, and decreased (increased) relative humidity from 1000 to 950 hPa (950-700 hPa) during the cold season. Analyses of moisture divergence, evaporation minus precipitation, and meridional moisture flux fields suggest that increased local surface water fluxes, rather than atmospheric motions, provide a key source of moisture for increased Arctic clouds over newly exposed water surfaces during October-March. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El Niño can be categorized into long and short decaying cases in terms of the lengths of decaying phases. We find that the difference between long and short decaying El Niño emerges as early as the decaying spring, rather than the decaying summer mentioned in previous studies. Observational evidence suggests that this difference corresponds to the different positions of the spring Aleutian low (AL). Further analysis using 15 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) model simulations suggests that the AL that extends southeastward into the northeastern subtropical Pacific contributes to the long decaying El Niño. The northeastern subtropical Pacific AL, with an anomalous southwesterly on the southeast edge, is associated with warming in situ, which further induces cyclonic circulation anomalies over the eastern tropical Pacific as Gill's response. The anomalous westerly at the equator along the southern side of the cyclonic circulation anomalies is related to positive SST anomalies over the central and eastern tropical Pacific and therefore the persistence of El Niño in the decaying spring. On the other hand, the AL restricted to the North Pacific contributes to anticyclonic circulation anomalies over the central Pacific and favors the decline of El Niño through the seasonal footprint mechanism. Moreover, the models that reproduce many more long (short) decaying El Niño cases tend to simulate the AL southeastward extension (restriction over the North Pacific) during the El Niño decaying spring. The results imply that the AL position in the El Niño decaying spring could be a precursor to the length of El Niño decaying phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a particular focus on the Siberian storm track, this study provides new insights into variations in the warm Arctic-cold Eurasia (WACE) temperature anomaly pattern by using reanalysis data. The results show that the Siberian storm track has a significant out-of-phase relationship with both the WACE pattern and Ural blocking on the interannual time scale. The strengthened WACE pattern can weaken the Siberian storm track through a suppression of the low-level atmospheric baroclinicity over midlatitude Eurasia. The weakened Siberian storm track can contribute to the WACE pattern through feedback forcing from synoptic-scale eddies, which can also create favorable conditions for the development of Ural blocking. Composite temporal evolution reveals that the strongest cold Arctic-warm Eurasia pattern is preceded by the peak of the Siberian storm track. The Ural cyclonic circulation reaches its maximum amplitude on the peak day of the Siberian storm track strength and continues to persist for one day with the maximum amplitude due to the feedback forcing resulting from the Siberian storm track. On the intraseasonal time scale, the occurrence of the Siberian storm track activity can serve as an early indication of the diminished Ural blocking andWACE pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East Siberia-Beaufort Sea (EsCB) sea ice during boreal autumn has recently been reported to play important roles in the climate over Eurasia and North America. The EsCB sea ice exhibits remarkable year-to-year fluctuations in autumn (August-October), the season in which its minimum extent usually occurs. However, the physical driver of the autumn EsCB sea ice interannual variability remains unclear, impeding the seasonal prediction of local sea ice. Here we find that the autumn EsCB sea ice variability is largely driven by the preceding summer (May-July) dipolar atmospheric anomalies over the North Atlantic, resembling the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) pattern. During the negative NAO-like phase, the circumpolar anticyclonic anomalies tend to transport the warm air from Greenland toward the EsCB region, which triggers rapid sea ice melt there. The associated EsCB sea ice anomalies can be maintained or even intensified by the local sea ice-albedo positive feedback until autumn. Therefore, the abnormal signals of Arctic sea ice tend to show significant persistence in summer and autumn. The influence of the summer NAO-like atmospheric circulation on the ensuing autumn EsCB sea ice can be realistically reproduced in the historical simulation of the E3SM-1-0 model, supporting our findings based on the observation. This lagged relationship provides a promising pathway for skillful seasonal prediction of the EsCB sea ice and its related climatic impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the dominant structure and characteristics of synoptic-scale (2–8-day periods) waves over northern Eurasia during 40 summer seasons (June–August, 1979–2018). The synoptic-scale wave patterns are isolated using an extended empirical orthogonal function (EEOF) analysis on the 300-hPa geopotential height anomalies, and a composite based on atmospheric circulation fields and gridded precipitation product. The wave patterns are classified into two types from two pairs of EEOF modes. These two different wave types are defined as the polar frontal (PF) mode and Arctic frontal (AF) mode, respectively. The PF-mode waves are initiated in the North Atlantic sector to the west of the British Isles. They propagate eastward across Siberia into the North Pacific, and produce precipitation mainly over the Eurasian polar frontal zone. The AF-mode wave train arcs along the climatological Arctic frontal zone (AFZ). The AF-mode waves originate near the Scandinavian Peninsula. Their eastward passage brings precipitation along the AFZ. The development of the synoptic-scale waves is reflected by unique background conditions over northern Eurasia. The lower-tropospheric baroclinicity in southern Siberia and central Asia favored the baroclinic growth of the PF-mode waves. The AF-mode waves are trapped in the well-organized baroclinic zone along the north coast of the Eurasian continent. The baroclinic zone is coupled with a band of large meridional gradient of potential vorticity in the upper troposphere, suggesting that this band acts as a waveguide for the AF-mode waves. Significance Statement: This study examines the synoptic-scale waves in the 2–8-day range of time scales over northern Eurasia during summer. The synoptic-scale waves are categorized into two distinct types at different latitude bands by the EEOF analysis on the 300-hPa z anomalies. They are defined as polar frontal (PF) mode and Arctic frontal (AF) mode. Then the EEOF-based composite analysis is conducted to detect the large-scale circulation anomalies associated with the propagation of different types of synoptic-scale waves. The structure and characteristics are examined. The roles of the mean background conditions in the development and propagation of the respective types are discussed. The behavior of these wave disturbances as rain-producing weather systems is also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elevated spring and summer rainfall in the U.S. Midwest is often associated with a strong Great Plains low-level jet (GPLLJ), which transports moist air northward to the region from the Gulf of Mexico. While the intensity of hourly precipitation extremes depends on local moisture availability and vertical velocity, sustained moisture convergence on longer time scales depends on horizontal moisture advection from remote sources. Therefore, the magnitude of moisture convergence in the Midwest depends in part on the humidity in these moisture source regions. Past work has identified the time-mean spatial distribution of moisture sources for the Midwest and studied how this pattern changes in years with anomalous rainfall. Here, using reanalysis products and an Eulerian moisture tracking model, we seek to increase physical understanding of this moisture source variability by linking it to the GPLLJ, which has been studied extensively. We find that on interannual time scales, an anomalously strong GPLLJ is associated with a shift in the distribution of moisture sources from land to ocean, with most of the anomalous moisture transported to—and converged in—the Midwest originating from the Atlantic Ocean. This effect is more pronounced on synoptic time scales, when almost all anomalous moisture transported to the region originates over the ocean. We also show that the observed positive trend in oceanic moisture contribution to the Midwest from 1979 to 2020 is consistent with a strengthening of the GPLLJ over the same period. We conclude by outlining how projected changes in a region's upstream moisture sources may be useful for understanding changes in local precipitation variability. Significance Statement: In this work, we study how the origin of moisture that forms precipitation in the U.S. Midwest covaries with large-scale atmospheric circulation. Our results show that an intensification of the mean winds tends to increase the proportion of total rainfall that originates from the ocean. This analysis may help to constrain future projections of rainfall extremes in the central United States, as projected changes in humidity over the ocean are typically more robust and better understood than those over land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the occurrence of Arctic winter daily warming events has attracted substantial attention from the media and scholars alike. Herein, these events are investigated further, particularly in respect of their relation with the Arctic Oscillation (AO). We define a Pacific pattern–Arctic rapid tropospheric daily warming (Pacific-RTDW) event, when the Arctic winter daily warming is triggered by a warm humid air mass that is transported by storms from the North Pacific into the Arctic. An anomalous northwest–southeast dipole pattern at 500-hPa geopotential is identified spanning from the Arctic to the North Pacific and associated with AO. The dipole pattern could favor the occurrence of Pacific-RTDW events because it induces a strong southerly in the middle troposphere, which mid-high-latitude storms may follow into the Arctic. In particular, the correlation between AO and the occurrence frequency of Pacific-RTDW events has strengthened since the early 1980s. This shift is attributed to the intensified Pacific storm-track (PST) activity intensity, which is possibly related to the phase transition of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) and has induced stronger synoptic-scale eddy feedbacks to low-frequency flows since this period. Accordingly, stronger feedbacks of the synoptic-scale eddies could provide a favorable condition for the formation of such a dipole pattern associated with the AO, bolstering the connection between AO and Pacific-RTDW events. In contrast, the eddy feedback to the flow is not strong enough and is, therefore, unable to provide favorable conditions before this period due to the comparatively weak PST intensity. Significance Statement: The Arctic winter daily warming event may lead to more severe cold air outbreaks invading the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes. We explored the climatic conditions favorable for the occurrence of Arctic winter daily warming events, thereby revealing that the correlated atmospheric circulation features a northwest–southeast dipole pattern. Additionally, since the early 1980s, the intensified Pacific storm-track activity is believed to have contributed to strengthening of the correlation between the Arctic Oscillation and the occurrence frequency of Arctic winter daily warming events. The findings here are expected to assist in prediction of future Arctic winter daily warming events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian Ocean basin (IOB) mode is the dominant mode of the interannual sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the Indian Ocean, with the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) as the second mode. An IOB event normally occurs after an El Niño or a concurrent IOD–El Niño event, the dynamics of which are traditionally believed as forced by ENSO through the Walker circulation anomalies over the tropical Indian Ocean. A strong IOB in 2020 took place after the strongest 2019 IOD on record but independent of El Niño, which challenges the traditional atmospheric bridge dynamics of the IOB event. In this study, the dynamics of the 2020 IOB event are investigated using the numerical seasonal climate prediction system of the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center of China. It is found that the initialization of the Indian Ocean subsurface temperature during the 2019 IOD event has led to the outburst of the 2020 IOB event successfully, the dynamics of which are the propagation and the western boundary reflection of the equatorial and off-equatorial Rossby waves, inducing heat content recharge over the tropical Indian Ocean upper thermocline. In comparison, experiments of SST initialization over the tropical Indian Ocean, with the subsurface temperature in a climatological state, were unable to reproduce the onset of the 2020 IOB event, suggesting that the local air–sea interaction within the Indian Ocean basin is of secondary importance. The numerical experiments suggest that the thermocline ocean wave dynamics play an important role in forcing the IOB event. The revealed thermocline dynamics are potentially useful in climate prediction associated with IOB events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El Niño is known to affect Arctic temperature. However, the robustness of the observed relationship between El Niño and Arctic temperature remains debated. Here we reexamine the impacts of El Niño on the Arctic temperature in boreal winter [December–February (DJF)] using reanalysis datasets and atmospheric model experiments. This study shows that extreme El Niño events are accompanied by significant boreal winter cooling over northeastern Canada and Greenland (NECG), while moderate eastern Pacific (MEP) El Niño events are accompanied by significant boreal winter warming in this region. For central Pacific (CP) El Niño events, a cold signal appears in NECG, but with no statistical significance. During extreme El Niño winters, a positive Pacific–North America (PNA)-like pattern is seen in the Pacific, and anomalously negative 200-hPa geopotential height (Z200) strengthening occurs over NECG, which is a response to anomalous strong wave activity originating in the tropical Pacific. El Niño–induced circulation anomalies can further induce NECG cooling via cold temperature advection and decreased downward longwave radiation. In contrast, for the MEP El Niño, the subtropical jet extends zonally from the North Pacific to the North Atlantic, which is accompanied by increased baroclinicity anomalies and favors the propagation of synoptic eddies into the Atlantic, leading to a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)-like pattern. This in turn could further enhance the positive Z200 anomalies over NECG, resulting in anomalous warming in NECG through warm temperature advection and enhanced downward longwave radiation. A series of atmospheric model experiments simulates the observed circulation changes and associated warming over NECG. Significance Statement: This work investigates the different impacts of the three El Niño types on regional Arctic wintertime temperature anomalies based on observations and model experiments. The impacts of El Niño events on northeastern Canada and Greenland temperatures during boreal winter show distinct differences between extreme El Niño and moderate EP El Niño events. These distinct differences can be attributed to the different atmospheric circulation patterns induced by different SST patterns, which can lead to warm (cold) temperature advection and enhanced (decreased) downward longwave radiation. These results highlight the different impacts of extreme and moderate EP El Niños on Arctic temperatures and provide an improved understanding of the impact of El Niños on the Arctic climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

North Atlantic atmosphere–ocean variability is assessed in climate model simulations from HighResMIP that have low resolution (LR) or high resolution (HR) in their atmosphere and ocean model components. It is found that some of the LR simulations overestimate the low-frequency variability of subpolar sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies and underestimate its correlation with the NAO compared to ERA5. These deficiencies are significantly reduced in the HR simulations, and it is shown that the improvements are related to a reduction of intrinsic (non-NAO-driven) variability of the subpolar ocean circulation. To understand the cause of the overestimated intrinsic subpolar ocean variability in the LR simulations, a link is demonstrated between the amplitude of the subpolar ocean variability and the mean state of the Labrador–Irminger Seas. Supporting previous studies, the Labrador–Irminger Seas tend to be colder and fresher in the LR simulations compared to the HR simulations and oceanic observations from EN4. This promotes upper-ocean density anomalies in this region to be more salinity-controlled in the LR simulations versus more temperature-controlled in the HR simulations and EN4 observations. It is argued that this causes the excessive subpolar ocean variability in the LR simulations by favoring a positive feedback between subpolar upper-ocean salinity and Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) anomalies, rather than a negative feedback between subpolar SST and AMOC anomalies as in the HR simulations. The findings overall suggest that the subpolar ocean mean state impacts the variability of the ocean circulation and SSTs, including their relationship with the atmospheric circulation, in the extratropical North Atlantic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distinction between eddy-driven and subtropical jets is conceptually important and well-founded based on different driving mechanisms and dominant types of variability. This climatological perspective may be augmented by considering instantaneous maxima in the wind field and linking these to the time-mean jets. Inspired by EOF and cluster analyses to explore the variability in jet occurrences, we propose a straightforward framework that naturally distinguishes subtropical from eddy-driven jets in instantaneous data. We document that for most ocean basins, there is a clear bimodality in instantaneous jet occurrences in potential temperature–wind speed space. The two types of jets in this phase space align well with the conceptual expectations for subtropical and eddy-driven jets regarding their vertical structure as well as their regional occurrence. Interestingly, the bimodality in phase space is most pronounced in the western North Pacific during winter. The climatological jet in this region is typically regarded as "merged," resulting from a mixture of thermal driving and eddy driving. Our results clarify that the strongest instantaneous jets in this region are classified as subtropical, with eddy-driven jets occurring in close proximity to the climatological mean jet, though weaker and slightly more poleward. We also show that the regions of climatological transition from predominantly subtropical to predominantly eddy-driven jets are just downstream of the strongest climatological jets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold winters over Eurasia often coincide with warm winters in the Arctic, which has become known as the "warm Arctic–cold Eurasia" pattern. The extent to which this observed correlation is indicative of a causal response to sea ice loss is debated. Here, using large multimodel ensembles of coordinated experiments, we find that the Eurasian temperature response to Arctic sea ice loss is weak compared to internal variability and is not robust across climate models. We show that Eurasian cooling is driven by tropospheric and stratospheric circulation changes in response to sea ice loss but is counteracted by tropospheric thermodynamical warming, as the local warming induced by sea ice loss spreads into the midlatitudes by eddy advection. Although opposing effects of thermodynamical warming and dynamical cooling are found robustly across different models or different sea ice perturbations, their net effect varies in sign and magnitude across the models, resulting in diverse model temperature responses over Eurasia. The contributions from both tropospheric dynamics and thermodynamics show substantial intermodel spread. Although some of this spread in the Eurasian winter temperature response to sea ice loss may stem from model uncertainty, even with several hundred ensemble members, it is challenging to isolate model differences in the forced response from internal variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The standard approach when studying atmospheric circulation regimes and their dynamics is to use a hard regime assignment, where each atmospheric state is assigned to the regime it is closest to in distance. However, this may not always be the most appropriate approach as the regime assignment may be affected by small deviations in the distance to the regimes due to noise. To mitigate this we develop a sequential probabilistic regime assignment using Bayes's theorem, which can be applied to previously defined regimes and implemented in real time as new data become available. Bayes's theorem tells us that the probability of being in a regime given the data can be determined by combining climatological likelihood with prior information. The regime probabilities at time t can be used to inform the prior probabilities at time t + 1, which are then used to sequentially update the regime probabilities. We apply this approach to both reanalysis data and a seasonal hindcast ensemble incorporating knowledge of the transition probabilities between regimes. Furthermore, making use of the signal present within the ensemble to better inform the prior probabilities allows for identifying more pronounced interannual variability. The signal within the interannual variability of wintertime North Atlantic circulation regimes is assessed using both a categorical and regression approach, with the strongest signals found during very strong El Niño years. Significance Statement: Atmospheric circulation regimes are recurrent and persistent patterns that characterize the atmospheric circulation on time scales of 1–3 weeks. They are relevant for predictability on these time scales as mediators of weather. In this study we propose a novel approach to assigning atmospheric states to six predefined wintertime circulation regimes over the North Atlantic and Europe, which can be applied in real time. This approach introduces a probabilistic, instead of deterministic, regime assignment and uses prior knowledge on the regime dynamics. It allows us to better identify the regime persistence and indicates when a state does not clearly belong to one regime. Making use of an ensemble of model simulations, we can identify more pronounced interannual variability by using the full ensemble to inform prior knowledge on the regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called traditional approximation, wherein the component of the Coriolis force proportional to the cosine of latitude is ignored, is frequently made in order to simplify the equations of atmospheric circulation. For velocity fields whose vertical component is comparable to their horizontal component (such as convective circulations), and in the tropics where the sine of latitude vanishes, the traditional approximation is not justified. We introduce a framework for studying the effect of diabatic heating on circulations in the presence of both traditional and nontraditional terms in the Coriolis force. The framework is intended to describe steady convective circulations on an f plane in the presence of radiation and momentum damping. We derive a single elliptic equation for the horizontal velocity potential, which is a generalization of the weak temperature gradient (WTG) approximation. The elliptic operator depends on latitude, radiative damping, and momentum damping coefficients. We show how all other dynamical fields can be diagnosed from this velocity potential; the horizontal velocity induced by the Coriolis force has a particularly simple expression in terms of the velocity potential. Limiting examples occur at the equator, where only the nontraditional terms are present, at the poles, where only the traditional terms appear, and in the absence of radiative damping where the WTG approximation is recovered. We discuss how the framework will be used to construct dynamical, nonlinear convective models, in order to diagnose their consequent upscale momentum and temperature fluxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for an explanation of correlations of weather and climate with solar activity has uncovered some subtle effects of the varying solar inputs, which include irradiance, energetic particles, electric fields induced by the solar wind, and the modulation of the galactic cosmic ray flux. Relevant phenomena have been identified in stratospheric chemistry and dynamics and in aerosols, atmospheric electricity, and clouds. The effects are small and appear intermittently in statistical analyses of observations. Correlations and theory permit responses to several solar inputs effective on the decadal time scales, making it difficult to distinguish them observationally. No mechanism for tropospheric decadal change can be considered to be definitely established, but for the day-to-day time scale there is clear observational evidence for clouds responding to solar wind-induced current flow (JZ) in the global electric circuit, due to changes in ionospheric potential, and independently from Forbush decreases of the cosmic ray flux. The responses to JZ also correlate separately with ionospheric potential changes due to changes in day-to-day thunderstorm activity. The identified mechanism is for electric charge effects on in-cloud scavenging, and this implies a decadal response, in view of decadal changes in JZ. However, a complete and quantitative model of the inferred electrically induced changes in cloud microphysics is not yet available. The failures, successes, and controversies of the search illustrate the somewhat chaotic process of scientific discovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of global warming, the Arctic region has warmed faster than the Antarctic, which is referred to as asymmetric Arctic and Antarctic warming. The new generation of model simulations from the CMIP6 offers an opportunity to identify the major factors contributing to the asymmetric warming and its intermodel spread. In this study, the preindustrial and abrupt-4 × CO2 experiments from 18 CMIP6 models are examined to extract the asymmetric warming and its intermodel spread. A climate feedback-response analysis method is applied to reveal the contributions of external and internal feedback processes to the asymmetric warming and its intermodel spread, by decomposing total warming into the partial temperature changes caused by individual factors. It is found that a seasonal energy transfer mechanism (SETM) dominates in both polar warmings. The direct consequence of the sea ice declining in response to the anthropogenic forcing is an increase in the effective heat capacity of the ocean surface layer. Such an increase in the effective heat capacity temporally withholds most of the extra solar energy absorbed during summer and then releases it during winter, contributing to stronger warming in winter. However, the background oceanic circulation in the Southern Ocean, namely, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, continually transports energy equatorward, resulting in a suppressed SETM and surface warming in the Antarctic. The key factor that accounts for intermodel spread in the asymmetric warming is the difference in their strengths of SETM. The poleward atmospheric transport and water vapor feedback also contribute to the intermodel spread. Significance Statement: The asymmetric Arctic and Antarctic warming, as a response to the increase in CO2, can regulate global atmospheric and oceanic circulations via meridional temperature gradient. Previous studies have all ascribed the key role of the ocean in the asymmetric warming over the two poles with a lack of comprehensive understanding of the roles of other feedback processes. This study emphasizes that oceanic circulation is the root of the asymmetric warming via suppressing sea ice retreat and the associated SETM in the Antarctic, instead of increasing ocean heat uptake and equatorward transport only. For the intermodel spread in the asymmetric warming over two poles, the differences in the strength of all processes involving the SETM among models are the prominent issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout 2020, a persistent marine heatwave (MHW) event occurred in the northeast (NE) Pacific, which exhibited a record-breaking intensity and long duration. Three peaks of sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly are identified in April, July, and November 2020, respectively, all of which are caused by the surface latent heat flux (LH) term. A Taylor expansion analysis for the LH term reveals that positive LH anomaly (LHA) played the decisive role in increasing the latent heating effect, whereas the mixed layer depth anomaly was not important in the 2020 MHW. The positive LHA was primarily caused by the southerly wind anomalies, which advected more humid air from lower latitudes to the NE Pacific and thus reduced the difference between the saturated specific humidity at sea surface and actual surface specific humidity. This reduced sea–air humidity difference was conducive to less evaporation, leading to positive LHA. Using an atmospheric general circulation model forced by observed SSTs, we find that although the atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with the 2020 MHW can be partly constrained by both tropical Pacific SST and local SST over the North Pacific, the role of internal atmospheric variability in the 2020 MHW's formation cannot be overlooked. The prediction skill for the 2020 MHW in the North American Multimodel Ensemble models is limited to one month, indicating the challenge of accurately predicting MHW in the NE Pacific. The finding about the contribution of sea–air humidity difference to the LHA provides a new insight into the formation mechanism of MHW. Significance Statement: An exceptionally strong and persistent marine heatwave occurred in the northeast Pacific throughout 2020, with three peaks in April, July, and November, causing considerable damage to local fisheries and ecosystems. This study found that the evolution of this marine heatwave was due to the less-than-normal release of latent heat at the ocean surface. This was mainly caused by the reduced sea–air humidity difference, which was attributed to the increased near-surface moisture transported by southerly wind anomalies. Our model experiments demonstrated that the associated anomaly fields in the atmosphere partly stemmed from stochastic processes. The state-of-the-art dynamic models can only predict this marine heatwave one month in advance, indicating the necessity of improving prediction skill for marine heatwave's evolution in current models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extratropical cyclones (ETCs) are three-dimensional synoptic systems in the middle and high latitudes. Previous studies on ETC propagation have typically focused on cyclones identified at a single level. However, more recent studies have found that ETCs have diverse vertical structures and cyclones with different vertical extents always exhibit distinct characteristics and surface impacts. In this work, we study the movement of wintertime (December–February) extratropical cyclones by classifying North Pacific ETCs into deep cyclones, shallow low-level cyclones, and shallow upper-level cyclones, based on reanalysis data from 1979 to 2019. Applying a Lagrangian perspective, we track the cyclones at different vertical levels to investigate the different characteristics and mechanisms for the propagation of deep and shallow ETCs. A potential vorticity (PV) tendency analysis of cyclone-tracking composites reveals that, for deep cyclones, the diabatic heating at 850 hPa and the horizontal advection by the stationary flow at 500 hPa are the main contributors to the poleward movement. For shallow cyclones, the nonlinear advection terms play a dominant role in their meridional motion, advecting shallow low-level cyclones poleward but shallow upper-level cyclones equatorward. A piecewise PV inversion analysis suggests that the nonlinear advection by winds induced from upper-level PV anomalies is responsible for the different performance of nonlinear advection terms for shallow low-level and upper-level cyclones. These findings further our understanding of the mechanisms and variations of cyclone propagation. Significance Statement: Extratropical cyclones (ETCs) can be identified at different levels in the troposphere. These mobile low pressure cyclonic storms are the main sources of synoptic variability in the extratropics and often bring severe or even disastrous weather. Previous studies on ETC movement have typically been restricted to cyclones identified at a single level. Our study, by identifying ETCs at multiple levels, classifies cyclones into deep, shallow low-level, and shallow upper-level cyclones. For deep cyclones, their poleward movement is found to be a result of diabatic heating at lower levels and dominated by the stationary circulation at upper levels. For shallow cyclones, nonlinear advection determines whether they propagate poleward or equatorward. These findings further our understanding of the mechanisms of cyclone propagation and imply that the movement of deep and shallow cyclones may undergo different changes with different weather and climate impacts in the future, given the enhanced diabatic heating under global warming, which deserves further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is typically interpreted that more moisture in the atmosphere leads to more intense rains. This notion may be supported, for example, by taking a scatterplot between rain and column precipitable water. The present paper suggests, however, that the main consequence of intense rains with more moisture in the atmosphere is that there is a higher chance of occurrence rather than an increase in the expected magnitude. This tendency equally applies to any rains above 1 mm (6 h)−1 to a lesser extent. The result is derived from an analysis of 33 local rain gauge station data and a shared sounding over Friuli Venezia Giulia, northeast Italy. Significance Statement: Moisture is the source of clouds. Clouds, in turn, are source of rain. So we may expect that more moisture in the atmosphere causes more intense rains. We may further speculate that with more moisture in the atmosphere as a consequence of the global warning, we must face more catastrophic rain events and floods. However, this paper, by analyzing data over Friuli Venezia Giulia, northeast Italy, suggests otherwise: more moisture indeed increases frequencies of intense rains, but not their magnitudes as much. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the processes that drive Arctic anomalous surface warming and sea ice loss during winter-season tropospheric energy flux events, synoptic periods of increased tropospheric energy flux convergence (Ftrop), using the NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis. During an event, a poleward anomaly in Ftrop initially increases the sensible and latent energy of the Arctic troposphere; as the warm and moist troposphere loses heat, the anomalous energy source is balanced by a flux upward across the tropopause and a downward net surface flux. A new metric for the Arctic surface heating efficiency (Etrop) is defined, which measures the fraction of the energy source that reaches the surface. Composites of high-, medium-, and low-efficiency events help identify key physical factors, including the vertical structure of Ftrop and Arctic surface preconditioning. In high-efficiency events (Etrop ≥ 0.63), a bottom-heavy poleward Ftrop occurs in the presence of an anomalously warm and unstratified Arctic—a consequence of decreased sea ice—resulting in increased vertical mixing, enhanced near-surface warming and moistening, and further sea ice loss. Smaller Etrop, and thus weaker surface impacts, are found in events with anomalously large initial sea ice extent and more vertically uniform Ftrop. These differences in Etrop are manifested primarily through turbulent heat fluxes rather than downward longwave radiation. The frequency of high-efficiency events has increased from the period 1980–99 to the period 2000–19, contributing to Arctic surface warming and sea ice decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strong coherence of the summer (June–August) surface air temperature (SAT) anomalies exists over eastern Eurasia (EE) and central Eurasia (CE) in association with a remarkable intraseasonal (10–90-day) variability. The intraseasonal SAT over Eurasia shows a negative correlation between EE and CE, which is closely related to an intraseasonal wave train at the upper troposphere over the mid–high latitudes of Eurasia. The wave train propagates eastward and results in the intraseasonal variation of SAT in a seesaw pattern. The column-integrated temperature budget suggests that both the horizontal and vertical advection are important for the intraseasonal SAT dipole. More specifically, the climatological westerly, intraseasonal meridional wind anomaly, and the anomalous vertical motion play dominant roles in perturbing temperature over the CE and EE regions, while the diabatic heating is a negative feedback. The propagation of the Rossby wave train in the upper troposphere helps to maintain the circulation anomalies associated with the SAT seesaw. The leading modes of meridional wind anomalies at 200 hPa over the Eurasian high latitudes resemble the intraseasonal wave train, indicating that the wave train associated with the SAT seesaw is an atmospheric intrinsic mode over the mid–high latitudes. This study also investigates the impact of the intraseasonal SAT seesaw on regional heat wave events. It is suggested that the intraseasonal SAT seesaw has a major influence on the variability of heat wave events over both EE and CE, which may provide great implications for regional subseasonal forecasts of extreme weather events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]