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In this paper, the spring predictability barrier (SPB) problem for two types of El Niño events is investigated. This is enabled by tracing the evolution of a conditional nonlinear optimal perturbation (CNOP) that acts as the initial error with the biggest negative effect on the El Niño predictions. We show that the CNOP-type errors for central Pacific-El Niño (CP-El Niño) events can be classified into two types: the first are CP-type-1 errors possessing a sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) pattern with negative anomalies in the equatorial central western Pacific, positive anomalies in the equatorial eastern Pacific, and accompanied by a thermocline depth anomaly pattern with positive anomalies along the equator. The second are, CP-type-2 errors presenting an SSTA pattern in the central eastern equatorial Pacific, with a dipole structure of negative anomalies in the east and positive anomalies in the west, and a thermocline depth anomaly pattern with a slight deepening along the equator. CP-type-1 errors grow in a manner similar to an eastern Pacific-El Niño (EP-El Niño) event and grow significantly during boreal spring, leading to a significant SPB for the CP-El Niño. CP-type-2 errors initially present as a process similar to a La Niña-like decay, prior to transitioning into a growth phase of an EP-El Niño-like event; but they fail to cause a SPB. For the EP-El Niño events, the CNOP-type errors are also classified into two types: EP-type-1 errors and 2 errors. The former is similar to a CP-type-1 error, while the latter presents with an almost opposite pattern. Both EP-type-1 and 2 errors yield a significant SPB for EP-El Niño events. For both CP- and EP-El Niño, their CNOP-type errors that cause a prominent SPB are concentrated in the central and eastern tropical Pacific. This may indicate that the prediction uncertainties of both types of El Niño events are sensitive to the initial errors in this region. The region may represent a common sensitive area for the targeted observation of the two types of El Niño events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand the physical processes causing the large spread in the storm track projections of the CMIP5 climate models. In particular, the relationship between the climate change responses of the storm tracks, as measured by the 2-6 day mean sea level pressure variance, and the equator-to-pole temperature differences at upper- and lower-tropospheric levels is investigated. In the southern hemisphere the responses of the upper- and lower-tropospheric temperature differences are correlated across the models and as a result they share similar associations with the storm track responses. There are large regions in which the storm track responses are correlated with the temperature difference responses, and a simple linear regression model based on the temperature differences at either level captures the spatial pattern of the mean storm track response as well explaining between 30 and 60 % of the inter-model variance of the storm track responses. In the northern hemisphere the responses of the two temperature differences are not significantly correlated and their associations with the storm track responses are more complicated. In summer, the responses of the lower-tropospheric temperature differences dominate the inter-model spread of the storm track responses. In winter, the responses of the upper- and lower-temperature differences both play a role. The results suggest that there is potential to reduce the spread in storm track responses by constraining the relative magnitudes of the warming in the tropical and polar regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis temperature dataset in the period of 1948-2014, the temperature contrast between the Arctic and equator in the pre- and post periods of the 1976/1977 regime shift is compared. An index measuring the temperature contrast is defined as the difference between the Arctic zone (70° N-90° N) and the equatorial region (10° S-10° N). The variations of the temperature contrast can be mainly explained by the local sea ice variations through sea ice-albedo-temperature feedback before 1976/1977 and the energy transportation to the Arctic together with the local sea ice after 1976/1977. The impacts of the Arctic minus equator (AmE) temperature contrast on the high-level westerly jet, and the polar easterlies show a significant difference during the two periods. A strong temperature anomaly associated with the temperature contrast in the two periods is found in the high latitude, but different patterns are observed at the high and low levels. The correlated water vapor appeared in the Indian Ocean and Maritime Continent before 1976/1977 and moved to northeastern Canada and eastern North America after 1976/1977. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) migrates north-south on seasonal and longer time scales. Previous studies have shown that the zonal-mean ITCZ displacement off the equator is negatively correlated with the energy flux across the equator; when the ITCZ lies in the Northern Hemisphere, energy flows southward across the equator, and vice versa. The hemisphere that exports energy across the equator is the hemisphere with more net energy input, and it is usually the warmer hemisphere. But states with a double ITCZ straddling the equator also occur, for example, seasonally over the eastern Pacific and frequently in climate models. Here it is shown how the ITCZ position is connected to the energy balance near the equator in a broad range of circumstances, including states with single and double ITCZs. Taylor expansion of the variation of the meridional energy flux around the equator leads to the conclusion that for large positive net energy input into the equatorial atmosphere, the ITCZ position depends linearly on the cross-equatorial energy flux. For small positive equatorial net energy input, the dependence of the ITCZ position on the cross-equatorial energy flux weakens to the third root. When the equatorial net energy input or its curvature become negative, a bifurcation to double-ITCZ states occurs. Simulations with an idealized aquaplanet general circulation model (GCM) confirm the quantitative adequacy of these relations. The results provide a framework for assessing and understanding causes of common climate model biases and for interpreting tropical precipitation changes, such as those evident in records of climates of the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following reconstructions suggesting weakened temperature gradients along the Equator in the early Pliocene, there has been much speculation about Pliocene climate variability. A major advance for our knowledge about the later Pliocene has been the coordination of modelling efforts through the Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP). Here the changes in interannual modes of sea surface temperature variability will be presented across PlioMIP. Previously, model ensembles have shown little consensus in the response of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to imposed forcings - either for the past or future. The PlioMIP ensemble, however, shows surprising agreement, with eight models simulating reduced variability and only one model indicating no change. The Pliocene's robustly weaker ENSO also saw a shift to lower frequencies. Model ensembles focussed on a wide variety of forcing scenarios have not yet shown this level of coherency. Nonetheless, the PlioMIP ensemble does not show a robust response of either ENSO flavour or sea surface temperature variability in the tropical Indian and North Pacific oceans. Existing suggestions linking ENSO properties to to changes in zonal temperature gradient, seasonal cycle and the elevation of the Andes Mountains are investigated, yet prove insufficient to explain the consistent response. The reason for this surprisingly coherent signal warrants further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]