Abstract
In this paper, distinct patterns of boreal winter convection anomalies over the tropical Pacific and associated wave trains in the extratropics are addressed. The first leading mode (EOF1) of convection anomalies as measured by outgoing longwave radiation demonstrates an east–west oscillation of deep convection with centers over the equatorial central Pacific (CP) and over the tropical western North Pacific and the Maritime Continent. The second leading mode (EOF2) is also a dipole pattern with opposite centers straddling 170°W, possibly modifying EOF1 to some extent. Combining the first two leading modes, five major categories of tropical convection anomalies can be identified for the period 1979/80-2012/13. The comparison between these five categories and the corresponding SST anomaly patterns indicates a nonlinear relationship between convection and SST. The combination of EOF1 and EOF2 with in-phase PCs exhibits an east–west dipole pattern with opposite signs over west of the dateline and the Maritime Continent. The negative phase of the two PCs, named La Niña pattern, induces a negative Pacific/North American—positive North Atlantic Oscillation teleconnection in the extratropics. Approximately opposite responses can be detected in its positive phase, named CP El Niño pattern. The negative PC2 superposing positive PC1, named EP El Niño pattern, shows the strongest convection anomalies with enhanced (depressed) convection over the eastern (western) Pacific and leads to a Tropical/Northern Hemisphere-like teleconnection pattern and an anomalous anticyclone extending from the North Pacific to the North Atlantic. The positive PC2 with neutral PC1, named western CP pattern, shows weakly enhanced convection to the west of the dateline as a response to local SST warming around the dateline. This convection anomaly pattern, although weak, is important and excites a northeastward wave train from the tropics to Greenland, resulting in surface air temperature cooling covering the northeastern North America and warmer and wetter conditions over Western Europe.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler RF et al (2003) The version-2 Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) monthly precipitation analysis (1979–present). J Hydrometeor 4:1147–1167
Ashok K, Behera SK, Rao SA, Weng H, Yamagata T (2007) El Niño Modoki and its possible teleconnection. J Geophys Res 112(C11):C11007. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JC003798
Brönnimann S, Xoplaki E, Casty C, Pauling A, Luterbacher J (2007) ENSO influence on Europe during the last centuries. Clim Dyn 28:181–197. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-006-0175-z
Chen S, Wu R, Chen W, Yu B (2015) Influence of the November Arctic Oscillation on the subsequent tropical Pacific sea surface temperature. Int J Climatol 35(14):4307–4317
Cohen J, Barlow M, Kushner PJ, Saito K (2007) Stratosphere–troposphere coupling and links with Eurasian surface variability. J Clim 20:5335–5343. https://doi.org/10.1175/2007JCLI1725.1
Cohen J, Jones J, Furtado JC, Tziperman E (2013) Warm Arctic, cold continents: a common pattern related to Arctic sea ice melt, snow advance, and extreme winter weather. Oceanography 26:150–160. https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2013.70
Ding S, Chen W, Feng J, Graf HF (2017) Combined impacts of PDO and two types of La Niña on climate anomalies in Europe. J Clim 30:3253–3278. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0376.1
Dommenget D, Bayr T, Frauen C (2013) Analysis of the nonlinearity in the pattern and time evolution of El Niño Southern Oscillation. Clim Dyn 40:2825–2847. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1475-0
Feng J, Chen W, Li Y (2017) Asymmetry of the winter extra-tropical teleconnections in the Northern Hemisphere associated with two types of ENSO. Clim Dyn 48:2135–2151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-016-3196-2
Frauen C, Dommenget D, Tyrrell N, Rezny M, Wales S (2014) Analysis of the nonlinearity of El Niño-Southern Oscillation teleconnection. J Clim 27:6225–6244. https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00757.1
Gill AE (1980) Some simple solutions for heat-induced tropical circulations. Quart J R Meteorol Soc 106:447–462. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49710644905
Gouirand I, Moron V (2003) Variability of the impact of El Niño–Southern Oscillation on sea-level pressure anomalies over the North Atlantic in January to March (1874–1996). Int J Climatol 23:1549–1566. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.963
Graf HF, Walter K (2005) Polar vortex controls coupling of North Atlantic Ocean and atmosphere. Geophys Res Lett 32:L01704. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020664
Graf HF, Zanchettin D (2012) Central Pacific El Niño, the “subtropical bridge”, and Eurasian climate. J Geophys Res 117:D01102. https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JD016493
Graf HF, Zanchettin D, Timmreck C, Bittner M (2014) Observational constraints on the tropospheric and near-surfacewinter signature of the Northern Hemisphere stratospheric polar vortex. Clim Dyn 43:3245–3266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2101-0
Guo Y, Wen Z, Wu R, Lu R, Chen Z (2015) Impact of tropical pacific precipitation anomaly on the East Asian upper-tropospheric westerly jet during the boreal winter. J Clim 28(16):150527124226009
Honda M, Nakamura H (2001) Interannual seesaw between the Aleutian and Icelandic lows. Part II: its significance in the interannual variability over the wintertime northern hemisphere. J Clim 14:4512–4529
Honda M, Nakamura H, Ukita J, Kousaka I, Takeuchi K (2001) Interannual seesaw between the Aleutian and Icelandic lows. Part I: seasonal dependence and life cycle. J Clim 14:1029–1042
Huang J, Higuchi K, Shabbar A (1998) The relationship between the North Atlantic Oscillation and El Niño–Southern Oscillation. Geophys Res Lett 25:2707–2710. https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL01936
Jaiser R, Dethloff K, Handorf D (2013) Stratospheric response to Arctic sea ice retreat and associated planetary wave propagation changes. Tellus 65A:19375. http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v65i0.19375
Jia X, Wang S, Lin H, Bao Q (2015) A connection between the tropical Pacific Ocean and the winter climate in the Asian-Pacific region. J Geophys Res Atmos 120:430–448. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD022324
Jia XJ, Ge JW, Wang S (2016) Diverse impacts of ENSO on wintertime rainfall over the Maritime Continent. Int J Climatol 36:3384–3397
Jones PD, Osborn TJ, Briffa KR (2003) Pressure-based measures of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO): a comparison and assessment of changes in the strength of the NAO and its influence on surface climate parameters. The North Atlantic Oscillation: climatic significance and environmental impact. Geophys Monogr Am Geophys Union 134:51–62
Kanamitsu M, Ebisuzaki W, Woollen J, Tnag SK, Hnilo JJ, Fiorino M, Potter GL (2002) NCEP-DOE AMIP-II Reanalysis (R-2). Bull Am Meteorol Soc 83:1631–1643. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-83-11-1631
Kug JS, Jin FF, An SI (2009) Two types of El Niño events: cold tongue El Niño and warm pool El Niño. J Clim 22(6):1499–1515
Lai AWC, Herzog M, Graf HF (2015) Two key parameters for the El Niño continuum: zonal wind anomalies and Western Pacific subsurface potential temperature. Clim Dyn 45(11–12):3461–3480
Larkin NK, Harrison DE (2005) On the definition of El Niño and associated seasonal average U.S. weather anomalies. Geophys Res Lett 32:L13705. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL022738
Lau KM, Chan PH (1983a) Short-term climate variability and atmospheric teleconnections from satellite-observed outgoing longwave radiation. Part I: simultaneous relationships. J Atmos Sci 40:2735–2750. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1983)040<2735:STCVAA>2.0.CO;2
Lau KM, Chan PH (1983b) Short-term climate variability and atmospheric teleconnections from satellite-observed outgoing longwave radiation. Part II: lagged correlations. J Atmos Sci 40:2751–2767. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1983)040<2751:STCVAA>2.0.CO;2
Lau KM, Wu HT, Bony S (1997) The role of large-scale atmospheric circulation in the relationship between tropical convection and sea surface temperature. J Clim 10(10):381–392
Lau NC, Leetmaa A, Nath MJ (2008) Interactions between the responses of North American climate to El Niño–La Niña and to the secular warming trend in the Indian–western Pacific Oceans. J Clim 21:476–494
Lee T, McPhaden MJ (2010) Increasing intensity of El Niño in the central-equatorial Pacific. Geophys Res Lett 37:L14603. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL044007
Liebmann B, Smith CA (1996) Description of a complete (interpolated) outgoing longwave radiation dataset. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 77:1275–1277
López-Parages J, Rodríguez-Fonseca B, Dommenget D, Frauen C (2016) ENSO influence on the North Atlantic European climate: a non-linear and non-stationary approach. Clim Dyn 47:2071–2084
Lorenz EN (1956) Empirical orthogonal functions and statistical weather prediction. Science Report 1, Statistical Forecasting Project. Dep Meteorol MIT 20:130–141
Matsuno T (1966) Quasi-geostropic motions in the equatorial area. J Meteor Soc Japan 44:25–43
Matsuura K, Willmott CJ (2009) Terrestrial air temperature and precipitation: Monthly climatologies, version 4.01. Center for Climate Research, Department of Geography, University of Delaware. http://climate.geog.udel.edu/~climate/html_pages/Global2_Clim/README.global2_clim.html
Mo KC, Livezey RE (1986) Tropical-extratropical geopotential height teleconnections during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Mon Wea Rev 114(12):2488–2515
Mudelsee M (2010) Climate time series analysis: classical statistical and bootstrap methods: atmospheric and oceanographic Sciences Library, vol 42, p 474. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9482-7
North GR, Bell TL, Cahalan RF, Moeng FJ (1982) Sampling errors in the estimation of empirical orthogonal functions. Mon Wea Rev 110:699–706. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1982)110,0699:SEITEO.2.0.CO;2
Park JH, An SI (2014) The impact of tropical western Pacific convection on the North Pacific atmospheric circulation during the boreal winter. Clim dyn 43:2227–2238. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-013-2047-7
Pascolini-Campbell M, Zanchettin D, Bothe O, Timmreck C, Matei D, Jungclaus H, Graf HF (2015) Toward a record of Central Pacific El Niño events since 1880. Theor Appl Climatol 119(1–2):379–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-014-1114-2
Peng S, Robinson WA, Li S (2003) Mechanisms for the NAO responses to the North Atlantic SST tripole. J Clim 16:1987–2004. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2003)016<1987:MFTNRT>2.0.CO;2
Perlwitz J, Graf HF (1995) The statistical connection between tropospheric and stratospheric circulation of the Northern Hemisphere in winter. J Clim 8:2281–2295. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1995)008<2281:TSCBTA>2.0.CO;2
Pinto JG, Reyers M, Ulbrich U (2011) The variable link between PNA and NAO in observations and in multi-century CGCM simulations. Clim Dyn 36(1–2):337–354
Rayner NA, Parker DE, Horton EB, Folland CK, Alexander LV, Rowell DP, Kent EC, Kaplan A (2003) Global analyses of sea surface temperature, sea ice, and night marine air temperature since the late nineteenth century. J Geophys Res 108:4407. https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002670
Sabin TP, Babu CA, Joseph PV (2013) SST-convection relation over tropical oceans. Int J Climatol 33:1424–1435. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.3522
Stechmann SN, Ogrosky HR (2014) The Walker circulation, diabatic heating, and outgoing longwave radiation. Geophys Res Lett 41(24):9097–9105
Takaya K, Nakamura H (1997) A formulation of a wave-activity flux for stationary Rossby waves on a zonally varying basic flow. Geophys Res Lett 24:2985–2988. https://doi.org/10.1029/97GL03094
Takaya K, Nakamura H (2001) A formulation of a phase-inpendent wave-activity flux for stationary and migratory quasigeostrophic eddies on a zonally varying basic flow. J Atmos Sci 58:608–627. https://doi.org/10.1175/15200469(2001)058<0608:AFOAPI>2.0.CO;2
Ting M (1996) Steady linear response to tropical heating in barotropic and baroclinic models. J Atmos Sci 53:1698–1709. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1996)053<1698:SLRTTH>2.0.CO;2
Wallace JM, Gutzler DS (1981) Teleconnections in the geopotential height field during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Mon Wea Rev 109:784–812. https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1981)109<0784:TITGHF>2.0.CO;2
Wang C (2002) Atmospheric circulation cells associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. J Clim 15:399–419
Weng H, Behera SK, Yamagata T (2009) Anomalous winter climate conditions in the Pacific rim during recent El Niño Modoki and El Niño events. Clim Dyn 32:663–674. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-008-0394-6
Wilks DS (1995) Statistical methods in the atmospheric sciences: an introduction. Academic press, San Diego, CA, 467 p
Wu R, Kirtman BP (2007) Regimes of local air-sea interactions and implications for performance of forced simulations. Clim Dyn 29:393–410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-007-0246-9
Yu B, Zhang X, Lin H, Yu JY (2015) Comparison of wintertime North American climate impacts associated with multiple ENSO indices. Atmos Ocean 53:426–445
Zhang T, Hoerling MP, Perlwitz J, Sun DZ, Murray D (2011) Physics of US surface temperature response to ENSO. J Clim 24(18):4874–4887
Zheng J, Liu Q, Wang C, Zheng XT (2013) Impact of heating anomalies associated with rainfall variations over the Indo-western Pacific on Asian atmospheric circulation in winter. Clim Dyn 40:2023–2033. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1478-x
Acknowledgements
We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their very constructive comments and suggestions, which led to significant improvement in the manuscript. This study is supported jointly by the National Key Research and Development Program (Grant no. 2016YFA0600604), the Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences (QYZDY-SSW-DQC024) and “The Belt and Road Initiatives” Program on International Cooperation: Climate Change Research and Observation Project (134111KYSB20160010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Hans-F. Graf Visiting Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ding, S., Chen, W., Graf, HF. et al. Distinct winter patterns of tropical Pacific convection anomaly and the associated extratropical wave trains in the Northern Hemisphere. Clim Dyn 51, 2003–2022 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3995-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-017-3995-0