Sensitivity of Teleconnection Patterns to the Sign of Their Primary Action Center

Abstract

Teleconnection patterns have been extensively investigated, mostly with linear analysis tools. The lesser-known asymmetric characteristics between positive and negative phases of prominent teleconnections are explored here. Substantial disparity between opposite phases can be found. The Pacific?North American (PNA) pattern exhibits a large difference in structure and statistical significance in its downstream action center, showing either a large impact over the U.S. southern third region or over the western North Atlantic Ocean. The North Atlantic?based patterns display significant impacts over the North Atlantic for large positive anomalies and even larger impacts over the European sector for large negative anomalies. The monthly variance is distributed nearly evenly over the entire North Atlantic basin. A teleconnection pattern based on different regions of the basin has been known to assume different structure and time variations. The extent of statistical significance is investigated for three typical North Atlantic?associated patterns based separately on the eastern (EATL), western (WATL), and southern (SATL) regions of the North Atlantic. The EATL teleconnection pattern is similar to the classical North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The WATL pattern, however, is more similar to the Arctic (Annular) Oscillation (AO). The sensitivity of the North Atlantic?based teleconnection to a slight shift in base point can be fairly large: the pattern can be an AO or an NAO, with distinctive significance structure between them. Other discernible features are also presented.