The Role of Transient Eddies in North Pacific Blocking Formation and Its Seasonality

Abstract

The mechanism of North Pacific (NP) blocking formation is investigated by conducting a reanalysis-based budget analysis of the quasigeostrophic geopotential tendency equation. It is confirmed that the amplification of NP blocking anomalies primarily results from vorticity fluxes with a minor contribution of heat fluxes. In winter, the cross-frequency vorticity fluxes, resulting from interactions between high-frequency eddies and the slowly varying background flow, dominate the blocking formation. The cross-frequency vorticity fluxes, however, become substantially weaker and comparable to the low-frequency vorticity fluxes in summer. This seasonality indicates that the mechanism of NP blocking formation varies with seasons due to the different background flow. It is further found that NP blocking formation is not sensitive to the region of formation (i.e., western vs eastern NP) nor to the type of wave breaking (i.e., cyclonic vs anticyclonic wave breaking).