A Far-Reaching Footprint of the Tropical Pacific Meridional Mode on the Summer Rainfall over the Yellow River Loop Valley

Abstract

ver thousands of years, the vicissitudes of the Yellow River and surrounding geographic environment form a unique river loop in northwestern China, namely, the Yellow River Loop Valley. Results from both observations and a climate model indicate that the summer rainfall over the Yellow River Loop Valley region can be remotely controlled by sea surface temperature fluctuations in the eastern subtropical North Pacific. This far-reaching teleconnection is achieved by an atmospheric wave train emanating from the eastern subtropical North Pacific, with a long traveling journey from the western to the Eastern Hemisphere. Furthermore, it is found that the SST forcing pattern resembles the Tropical Pacific Meridional Mode, a mode characterized by an interhemispheric temperature gradient and shift of the intertropical convergence zone in the eastern tropical Pacific.