On Wind, Convection, and SST Variations in the Northeastern Tropical Pacific Associated with the Madden–Julian Oscillation

Abstract

Lagged maximum covariance analysis (LMCA) is used to examine the intraseasonal variability of zonal wind, sea surface temperature (SST), and outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) in the northeastern tropical Pacific Ocean during Northern Hemisphere summertime. The analysis shows a strong temporal asymmetry in that wind and convection anomalies lead to SST anomalies, but SST anomalies are not followed by comparably strong wind and convection anomalies. This suggests that SST anomalies associated with the MJO in the northeastern tropical Pacific are largely subject to atmospheric variability.