The Aleutian Low in January and February—Relation to Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature

Abstract

The mean characteristics of the Aleutian low in January and February are compared. The comparison is made separately for years when the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature (SST) was anomalously high, and when the SST was low. It was found that when the SST was high, and the January sea level pressure (SLP) in the Aleutian low center was less than 990 mb, the center was east of the Dateline in both January and February; the February SLP also tended to be below normal. It is speculated that the characteristics of the Aleutian low in January and February under these conditions may be due to interaction between the influences of precipitation distribution over the tropical Pacific and the large-scale wind flow near the Asian coast.