Intraseasonal Modulation of Summer Precipitation over North America

Abstract

The intraseasonal rainfall variability over North America is examined using singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and composites of outgoing longwave radiation anomalies (OLRAs), 200-hPa divergence and a gridded rainfall dataset over the United States. The evolution of the Arizona and New Mexico (AZNM) monsoon based on composites indicates that rainfall anomalies propagate eastward from the North Pacific through AZNM, the Great Plains, to the eastern United States. During summer, the wet and dry periods of the AZNM monsoon are modulated by an oscillatory mode with a period of 22?25 days (22-day mode). This is also the dominant mode associated with rainfall events over the Great Plains. The influence of the Madden?Julian Oscillation (MJO) on the AZNM monsoon is secondary. The strongest impact of the MJO is on precipitation over Mexico. SSA performed on the 200-hPa divergence and OLRAs averaged over Mexico show only one oscillatory mode with a period of about 36?40 days. The 22?25-day mode also exists in the vertically integrated moisture fluxes over the Great Plains. During the wet periods of the AZNM monsoon, more moisture is transported from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California to AZNM. The situation reverses when the oscillation reaches the other phase. The 22-day mode is linked to tropical convection. When rainfall associated with the 22-day mode travels eastward from AZNM to the Great Plains, the OLRA composites show westward propagating waves just north of the equator. When enhanced convection reaches the western Pacific, rainfall diminishes over AZNM. When convection in the western Pacific is suppressed and enhanced convection is located in the central Pacific, rainfall intensifies over AZNM.