Abstract
The North Pacific storm track (NPST) does not peak around midwinter when atmospheric baroclinicity is the strongest, which is known as midwinter suppression. The association of the year-to-year variation in the midwinter suppression of the low-level NPST with the East Asian trough (EAT) and North Pacific atmospheric blocking (PB) is investigated by using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis during 1948–2018. The results show that the year-to-year variation in the midwinter suppression of the NPST is significantly related to those of the EAT and PB. The midwinter suppression is striking when the midwinter EAT or PB strengthens. However, when the midwinter EAT weakens, the midwinter suppression of the NPST becomes inapparent or even disappears. While the seasonal cycle of the eastern NPST exhibits a single peak in January with a nonexistent midwinter suppression during the years with inhibited PB, the western NPST has a prominent midwinter suppression with the maximum amplitude occurring in March. The seasonal march of the Siberian storm track is not in agreement with that of the NPST when the midwinter EAT is weak, which suggests that upstream seeding may not be a dominant mechanism to understand midwinter suppression. The EAT and PB can not only individually but also jointly associate the midwinter suppression of the NPST. In addition, there is a significant in-phase relationship between the EAT and PB intensities. The EAT may affect the PB by modifying the meridional gradient of background potential vorticity.
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The NCEP/NCAR atmospheric reanalysis is available online from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration at https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/data/gridded/reanalysis/.
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The authors thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful and crucial comments, which improved the manuscript substantially.
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This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42205046) and the Research Project of the National University of Defense Technology (ZK22-29).
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MY and CL designed the study, MY and XL conducted the analysis, and MY and XC drafted the manuscript.
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Appendix
Appendix
1.1 Patterns of strong/weak EAT and PB and seasonal march of the NPST associated with the weakened EAWM
The patterns of strong/weak EAT and PB and the midwinter suppression of the NPST associated with the EAWM are presented here. Figure 16 shows the composite geopotential height at 500 hPa and its anomalies in strong/weak EAT and PB midwinters. Figure 17 shows the composite latitude-month cross section of the seasonal marches in the NPST and atmospheric baroclinicity associated with the attenuated EAWM. Figure
Composite month-longitude cross section of the seasonal march in the Northern Hemisphere storm track (unit: K m s−1) related to the weak East Asian winter monsoon represented by a Siberian high, b east–west pressure contrast, c low-level northerly wind and d upper zonal wind shear. The storm track is averaged over latitudes between 25° and 65°N
18 shows the composite month-longitude cross section of the seasonal march in the Northern Hemisphere storm track.
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Yang, M., Li, C., Li, X. et al. The midwinter suppression of the North Pacific storm track associated with the East Asian trough and Pacific blocking. Clim Dyn 61, 4471–4489 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-06808-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-023-06808-5