Teleconnection between NAO and Climate Downstream of the Tibetan Plateau

Analysis of the monthly NCEP–NCAR reanalysis data and station data reveals a teleconnection pattern (NAULEA) that links climate changes over the North Atlantic and Eurasia. The NAULEA pattern has five action centers. It extends from the North Atlantic to northwestern Europe, and then stretches eastward to the Urals, with its eastern end over North China. Certain climate changes over East Asia, such as the cooling changes in both the upper troposphere and surface in the last few decades of the twentieth century, can be attributed to the NAULEA pattern anomalies and traced upstream to the North Atlantic. The NAULEA pattern is suggested to be another NAO-related teleconnection pattern. Compared with the pattern with the Asian jet waveguide path, which leads to temperature anomalies over northeastern Asia, the NAULEA pattern with a high-latitude path exerts stronger influences on the climate of southwestern China.