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Influence of October Eurasian snow on winter temperature over Northeast China

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Abstract

This paper addresses the interannual variation of winter air temperature over Northeast China and its connection to preceding Eurasian snow cover. The results show that there is a significant negative correlation between October Eurasian snow cover and following-winter air temperature over Northeast China. The snow cover located in eastern Siberia and to the northeast of Lake Baikal plays an important role in the winter air temperature anomaly. More (less) eastern Siberia snow in October can cause an atmospheric circulation anomaly pattern in which the atmospheric pressure is higher (lower) than normal in the polar region and lower (higher) in the northern mid-high latitudes. Due to the persistence of the eastern Siberia snow from October to the following winter, the winter atmospheric anomaly is favorable (unfavorable) to the widespread movement of cold air masses from the polar region toward the northern mid-high latitudes and, hence, lower (higher) temperature over Northeast China. Simultaneously, when the October snow cover is more (less), the SST in the northwestern Pacific is continuously lower (higher) as a whole; then, the Aleutian low and the East Asia trough are reinforced (weakened), favoring the lower (higher) temperature over Northeast China.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41130103 and 41210007), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2009CB421406), and the CAS-CSIRO Cooperative Research Program (Grant No. GJHZ1223).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China Meteorological Administration Training Centre, Beijing, 100081, China

    Huanlian Li

  2. Nansen-Zhu International Research Centre, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Huanlian Li & Huijun Wang

  3. Climate Change Research Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Huanlian Li, Huijun Wang & Dabang Jiang

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  1. Huanlian Li
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Correspondence to Huanlian Li.

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Li, H., Wang, H. & Jiang, D. Influence of October Eurasian snow on winter temperature over Northeast China. Adv. Atmos. Sci. 34, 116–126 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-016-5274-0

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