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Title: Daily-scale planetary wave patterns and the modulation of cold season weather in the northern extratropics

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026768· OSTI ID:1474274
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2];  [2]
  1. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
  2. Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
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Here, tropospheric planetary waves, often linked to asymmetries in lower boundary forcing,significantly modulate atmospheric blocking and storm track structures that are, in turn, linked to extremesurface weather events. Day-to-day variability in the planetary scale circulation, taken as wave numbers 1 to 5in the daily 500 hPa geopotential heights, and the associated impact on storm tracks and regional weather arestudied for the period 1950–2005. Six boreal cold-season distinct planetary wave patterns are identified viahierarchical cluster analysis. The first, second, and sixth patterns feature a prominent zonal wave number 1structure, while the fourth and fifth patterns resemble the negative and positive phases of northern annularmode, respectively. The second pattern represents an amplification of the climatological mean wavestructure, while the third pattern resembles the zonal wave number 3 pattern. A multitaper spectral analysisof the daily projection indices indicates that the planetary wave patterns are primarily intraseasonal innature. The first (sixth) pattern combines the positive (negative) phase of the Pacific-North Americanteleconnection pattern and negative (positive) phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, inducing poleward(equatorward) shifts in the Pacific storm track and a weakened (strengthened) Atlantic storm track. Incontrast, the fourth (fifth) pattern results in a simultaneous equatorward (poleward) displacement of bothstorm tracks. Extreme cold waves over the continental United States (U.S.) are favored during occurrences ofthe fourth and sixth patterns. During episodes of the first pattern, increased rainfall prevails over much ofthe U.S., while precipitation anomalies induced by the other patterns are more regional in nature.

Research Organization:
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012554
OSTI ID:
1474274
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1375523
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 122, Issue 16; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 8 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (1)

Planetary and synoptic-scale dynamic control of extreme cold wave patterns over the United States journal February 2019

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
planetary wave
storm track
extreme cold waves
harmonic analysis
northern annual mode