scholarly journals Australian rainfall anomalies and Indo-Pacific driver indices: links and skill in 2-year-long forecasts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. G. Watterson ◽  
T. J. O’Kane ◽  
V. Kitsios ◽  
M. A. Chamberlain
Keyword(s):  
Rainfall Anomalies ◽  
Australian Rainfall

Impacts of the Madden–Julian Oscillation on Australian Rainfall and Circulation

2009 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 1482-1498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew C. Wheeler ◽  
Harry H. Hendon ◽  
Sam Cleland ◽  
Holger Meinke ◽  
Alexis Donald
Keyword(s):  
Austral Summer ◽  
Madden Julian Oscillation ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Trade Winds ◽  
Four Seasons ◽  
Rainfall Anomalies ◽  
Circulation Anomalies ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Australian Rainfall ◽  
Rainfall Impact

Abstract Impacts of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) on Australian rainfall and circulation are examined during all four seasons. The authors examine circulation anomalies and a number of different rainfall metrics, each composited contemporaneously for eight MJO phases derived from the real-time multivariate MJO index. Multiple rainfall metrics are examined to allow for greater relevance of the information for applications. The greatest rainfall impact of the MJO occurs in northern Australia in (austral) summer, although in every season rainfall impacts of various magnitude are found in most locations, associated with corresponding circulation anomalies. In northern Australia in all seasons except winter, the rainfall impact is explained by the direct influence of the MJO’s tropical convective anomalies, while in winter a weaker and more localized signal in northern Australia appears to result from the modulation of the trade winds as they impinge upon the eastern coasts, especially in the northeast. In extratropical Australia, on the other hand, the occurrence of enhanced (suppressed) rainfall appears to result from induced upward (downward) motion within remotely forced extratropical lows (highs), and from anomalous low-level northerly (southerly) winds that transport moisture from the tropics. Induction of extratropical rainfall anomalies by remotely forced lows and highs appears to operate mostly in winter, whereas anomalous meridional moisture transport appears to operate mainly in the summer, autumn, and to some extent in the spring.

scholarly journals Can Australian Multiyear Droughts and Wet Spells Be Generated in the Absence of Oceanic Variability?

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (17) ◽  
pp. 6201-6221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andréa S. Taschetto ◽  
Alex Sen Gupta ◽  
Caroline C. Ummenhofer ◽  
Matthew H. England
Keyword(s):  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Rainfall Variability ◽  
Gaussian White Noise ◽  
Atmospheric Variability ◽  
Tropical Oceans ◽  
Rainfall Anomalies ◽  
Wet Spells ◽  
Australian Rainfall ◽  
Oceanic Variability

Abstract Anomalous conditions in the tropical oceans, such as those related to El Niño–Southern Oscillation and the Indian Ocean dipole, have been previously blamed for extended droughts and wet periods in Australia. Yet the extent to which Australian wet and dry spells can be driven by internal atmospheric variability remains unclear. Natural variability experiments are examined to determine whether prolonged extreme wet and dry periods can arise from internal atmospheric and land variability alone. Results reveal that this is indeed the case; however, these dry and wet events are found to be less severe than in simulations incorporating coupled oceanic variability. Overall, ocean feedback processes increase the magnitude of Australian rainfall variability by about 30% and give rise to more spatially coherent rainfall impacts. Over mainland Australia, ocean interactions lead to more frequent extreme events, particularly during the rainy season. Over Tasmania, in contrast, ocean–atmosphere coupling increases mean rainfall throughout the year. While ocean variability makes Australian rainfall anomalies more severe, droughts and wet spells of duration longer than three years are equally likely to occur in both atmospheric- and ocean-driven simulations. Moreover, they are essentially indistinguishable from what one expects from a Gaussian white noise distribution. Internal atmosphere–land-driven megadroughts and megapluvials that last as long as ocean-driven events are also identified in the simulations. This suggests that oceanic variability may be less important than previously assumed for the long-term persistence of Australian rainfall anomalies. This poses a challenge to accurate prediction of long-term dry and wet spells for Australia.

scholarly journals Dynamical Forecast of Inter–El Niño Variations of Tropical SST and Australian Spring Rainfall

2009 ◽  
Vol 137 (11) ◽  
pp. 3796-3810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun-Pa Lim ◽  
Harry H. Hendon ◽  
Debra Hudson ◽  
Guomin Wang ◽  
Oscar Alves
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Atmospheric Model ◽  
Lead Times ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Rainfall Anomalies ◽  
East West ◽  
Australian Rainfall

Abstract The relationship between variations of Indo-Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and Australian springtime rainfall over the last 30 years is investigated with a focus on predictability of inter–El Niño variations of SST and associated rainfall anomalies. Based on observed data, the leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) of Indo-Pacific SST represents mature El Niño conditions, while the second and fourth modes depict major east–west shifts of individual El Niño events. These higher-order EOFs of SST explain more rainfall variance in Australia, especially in the southeast, than does the El Niño mode. Furthermore, intense springtime droughts tend to be associated with peak warming in the central Pacific, as captured by EOFs 2 and 4, together with warming in the eastern Pacific as depicted by EOF1. The ability to predict these inter–El Niño variations of SST and Australian rainfall is assessed with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology dynamical coupled model seasonal forecast system, the Predictive Ocean and Atmospheric Model for Australia (POAMA). A 10-member ensemble of 9-month hindcasts was generated for the period 1980–2006. For the September–November season, the leading 2 EOFs of SST are predictable with lead times of 3–6 months, while SST EOF4 is predictable out to a lead time of 1 month. The teleconnection between the leading EOFs of SST and Australian rainfall is also well depicted in the model. Based on this ability to predict major east–west variations of El Niño and the teleconnection to Australian rainfall, springtime rainfall over eastern Australia, and major drought events are predictable up to a season in advance.

scholarly journals Two-year consecutive concurrences of positive Indian Ocean Dipole and Central Pacific El Niño preconditioned the 2019/2020 Australian “black summer” bushfires

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guojian Wang ◽  
Wenju Cai
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
El Niño ◽  
Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Greenhouse Warming ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Central Pacific El Niño ◽  
Positive Indian Ocean Dipole ◽  
The Future ◽  
Rainfall Anomalies

Abstract The 2019/20 Australian black summer bushfires were particularly severe in many respects, including its early commencement, large spatial coverage, and large number of burning days, preceded by record dry and hot anomalies. Determining whether greenhouse warming has played a role is an important issue. Here, we examine known modes of tropical climate variability that contribute to droughts in Australia to provide a gauge. We find that a two-year consecutive concurrence of the 2018 and 2019 positive Indian Ocean Dipole and the 2018 and 2019 Central Pacific El Niño, with the former affecting Southeast Australia, and the latter influencing eastern and northeastern Australia, may explain many characteristics of the fires. Such consecutive events occurred only once in the observations since 1911. Using two generations of state-of-the-art climate models under historical and a business-as-usual emission scenario, we show that the frequency of such consecutive concurrences increases slightly, but rainfall anomalies during such events are stronger in the future climate, and there are drying trends across Australia. The impact of the stronger rainfall anomalies during such events under drying trends is likely to be exacerbated by greenhouse warming-induced rise in temperatures, making such events in the future even more extreme.

scholarly journals Sources of Tropical Subseasonal Skill in the CFSv2

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 (4) ◽  
pp. 1553-1565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl J. Schreck ◽  
Matthew A. Janiga ◽  
Stephen Baxter
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Equatorial Pacific ◽  
Convectively Coupled Equatorial Waves ◽  
Subseasonal Variability ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Fourier Filtering ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Rainfall Anomalies ◽  
Combined Data

Abstract This study applies Fourier filtering to a combination of rainfall estimates from TRMM and forecasts from the CFSv2. The combined data are filtered for low-frequency (LF, ≥120 days) variability, the MJO, and convectively coupled equatorial waves. The filtering provides insight into the sources of skill for the CFSv2. The LF filter, which encapsulates persistent anomalies generally corresponding with SSTs, has the largest contribution to forecast skill beyond week 2. Variability within the equatorial Pacific is dominated by its response to ENSO, such that both the unfiltered and the LF-filtered forecasts are skillful over the Pacific through the entire 45-day CFSv2 forecast. In fact, the LF forecasts in that region are more skillful than the unfiltered forecasts or any combination of the filters. Verifying filtered against unfiltered observations shows that subseasonal variability has very little opportunity to contribute to skill over the equatorial Pacific. Any subseasonal variability produced by the model is actually detracting from the skill there. The MJO primarily contributes to CFSv2 skill over the Indian Ocean, particularly during March–May and MJO phases 2–5. However, the model misses opportunities for the MJO to contribute to skill in other regions. Convectively coupled equatorial Rossby waves contribute to skill over the Indian Ocean during December–February and the Atlantic Ocean during September–November. Convectively coupled Kelvin waves show limited potential skill for predicting weekly averaged rainfall anomalies since they explain a relatively small percent of the observed variability.

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