scholarly journals Seasonal Predictability of the Winter North Atlantic Oscillation From a Jet Stream Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (16) ◽  
pp. 10159-10167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tess Parker ◽  
Tim Woollings ◽  
Antje Weisheimer ◽  
Chris O'Reilly ◽  
Laura Baker ◽  
...  
SOLA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (0) ◽  
pp. 209-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoaki Saito ◽  
Shuhei Maeda ◽  
Tosiyuki Nakaegawa ◽  
Yuhei Takaya ◽  
Yukiko Imada ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (18) ◽  
pp. 9994-10,002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Woollings ◽  
Lukas Papritz ◽  
Cheikh Mbengue ◽  
Thomas Spengler

Author(s):  
Javier Mellado-Cano ◽  
David Barriopedro ◽  
Ricardo García-Herrera ◽  
Ricardo Trigo ◽  
Armand Hernández

<p>Instrumental records of the leading patterns of variability are short, hampering a proper characterization of the atmospheric circulation beyond the mid-19<sup>th</sup> century. In this work, recently published in Mellado-Cano et al. (2019), we present the longest (1685-2014) observational-based records of winter NAO and East Atlantic (EA) indices as well as estimates of the North Atlantic eddy-driven jet stream for the same period. They are inferred from wind direction observations over the English Channel assembled in monthly indices of the persistence of the wind in the four cardinal directions. Our NAO and EA series are significantly correlated with traditional indices, showing comparable skill to that obtained between some instrumental indices, and capture their main signatures on European temperature and precipitation.</p><p>By identifying winters with different combinations of NAO/EA phases in the 20<sup>th</sup> century, our results highlight the additional role of EA in shaping the North Atlantic action centers and the European climate responses to NAO. The joint effects of NAO and EA cause European surface climate anomalies that can substantially differ from their canonical signatures, meaning that a proper characterization of regional climates cannot be achieved by the NAO alone. The EA interference with the NAO signal is stronger in precipitation than in temperature and affects areas with strong responses to NAO such as Greenland and the western Mediterranean.</p><p>The time series display large variability from interannual to multidecadal time scales, with e.g. positive (negative) EA (NAO) phases dominating before 1750 (during much of the 19<sup>th</sup> century). The last three centuries uncover multidecadal periods characterized by specific NAO/EA states and substantial variability in the North Atlantic jet stream, thus providing new evidences of the dynamics behind some outstanding periods. Transitions in the NAO/EA phase space have been recurrent and pin down long-lasting anomalies, such as the displacement of the North Atlantic action centers in the late 20<sup>th</sup> century, besides some disagreements between historical NAO indices.</p><p>Mellado-Cano, J., D. Barriopedro, R. García-Herrera, R.M. Trigo, 2019: Examining the North Atlantic Oscillation, East Atlantic pattern and jet variability since 1685. Journal of Climate. doi: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0135.1</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (19) ◽  
pp. 6285-6298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Mellado-Cano ◽  
David Barriopedro ◽  
Ricardo García-Herrera ◽  
Ricardo M. Trigo ◽  
Armand Hernández

Abstract Recent studies have stressed the key role of the east Atlantic (EA) pattern and its interactions with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) in Euro-Atlantic climate variability. However, instrumental records of these leading patterns of variability are short, hampering a proper characterization of the atmospheric circulation beyond the mid-nineteenth century. In this work, we present the longest (1685–2014) observational-based records of winter NAO and EA indices as well as estimates of the North Atlantic eddy-driven jet stream speed and latitude for the same period. The time series display large variability from interannual to multidecadal time scales, with, for example, positive (negative) EA (NAO) phases dominating before 1750 (during much of the nineteenth century). By identifying winters with different combinations of NAO/EA phases in the twentieth century, our results highlight the additional role of EA in shaping the North Atlantic action centers and the European climate responses to NAO. The EA interference with the NAO signal is stronger in precipitation than in temperature and affects areas with strong responses to NAO such as Greenland and the western Mediterranean, which prevents simplistic relationships of natural proxies with NAO. The last three centuries uncover multidecadal periods dominated by specific NAO/EA states and substantial interannual-to-centennial variability in the North Atlantic jet stream, thus providing new evidence of the dynamics behind some outstanding periods. Transitions in the NAO/EA phase space have been recurrent and pin down long-lasting anomalies, such as the displacement of the North Atlantic action centers in the late twentieth century, besides some disagreements between NAO indices.


Author(s):  
Edward Hanna ◽  
Thomas E. Cropper

Many variations in the weather in the European and North Atlantic regions are linked with changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The NAO is measured using a south-minus-north index of atmospheric surface pressure variation across the North Atlantic and is closely connected with changes in the North Atlantic atmospheric polar jet stream and wider changes in atmospheric circulation. The physical, human, and biological impacts of NAO changes extend well beyond weather and climate, with major economic, social, and environmental effects. The NAO index based on barometric pressure records now extends as far back as 1850, based on recent work. Although there are few significant overall trends in monthly or seasonal NAO (i.e., for the whole record), there are many shorter-term multidecadal variations. A prominent increase in the NAO between the 1960s and 1990s was widely noted in previous work and was thought to be related to human-induced greenhouse gas forcing. However, since then this trend has reversed, with a significant decrease in the summer NAO since the 1990s and a striking increase in variability of the winter—especially December—NAO that has resulted in four of the six highest and two of the five lowest NAO Decembers occurring during 2004–2015 in the 116-year record, with accompanying more variable year-to-year winter weather conditions over the United Kingdom. These NAO changes are related to an increasing trend in the Greenland Blocking Index (GBI; equals high pressure over Greenland) in summer and a significantly more variable GBI in December. Such NAO and related jet stream and blocking changes are not generally present in the current generation of global climate models, although recent process studies offer insights into their possible causes. Several plausible climate forcings and feedbacks, including changes in the sun’s energy output and the Arctic amplification of global warming with accompanying reductions in sea ice, may help explain the recent NAO changes. Recent research also suggests significant skill in being able to make seasonal NAO predictions and therefore long-range weather forecasts for up to several months ahead for northwest Europe. However, global climate models remain unclear on longer-term NAO predictions for the remainder of the 21st century.


2002 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 415-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cintia B. Uvo ◽  
Ronny Berndtsson

Climate variability and climate change are of great concern to economists and energy producers as well as environmentalists as both affect the precipitation and temperature in many regions of the world. Among those affected by climate variability is the Scandinavian Peninsula. Particularly, its winter precipitation and temperature are affected by the variations of the so-called North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The objective of this paper is to analyze the spatial distribution of the influence of NAO over Scandinavia. This analysis is a first step to establishing a predictive model, driven by a climatic indicator such as NAO, for the available water resources of different regions in Scandinavia. Such a tool would be valuable for predicting potential of hydropower production one or more seasons in advance.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document