Persistent North Pacific Circulation Anomalies and the Tropical Intraseasonal Oscillation

Abstract

A composite analysis of multiyear (1985?93) global reanalyses produced by the NCEP/NCAR and the NASA/DAO is used to show that the development of persistent North Pacific (PNP) circulation anomalies during NH winter is linked to tropical intraseasonal oscillations. The development is initiated over the tropical west Pacific by anomalous convection (characterized by an east?west dipole structure) one to two weeks prior to the extratropical onset time in both reanalyses. As tropical heating moves eastward toward the central Pacific, anomalous divergent outflow associated with the local Hadley circulation generates an anomalous Rossby wave sink (source) in the subtropics, consistent with the retraction (extension) of the Pacific jet. Prior to onset the signature of the forced anomalies is a pair of cyclonic (anticyclonic) circulation anomalies centered near the node of the tropical heating dipole. Wave trains extending from the region of anomalous convection into the extratropics set the stage for the subsequent rapid development of the PNP anomalies. After onset, the mature PNP anomalies extend equatorward to feed back (through modifications to the moisture transport) on the tropical precipitation anomalies. Throughout the evolution, the tropical precipitation anomalies and the extratropical PNP anomalies evolve coherently with tropical intraseasonal oscillations in both reanalyses.