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North American Winter Dipole: Observed and Simulated Changes in Circulations

Journal Article · · Atmosphere (Basel)
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3]
  1. Utah State Univ., Logan, UT (United States). Utah Climate Center; OSTI
  2. Utah State Univ., Logan, UT (United States). Utah Climate Center
  3. Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (Korea). School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering
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In recent years, a pair of large-scale circulation patterns consisting of an anomalous ridge over northwestern North America and trough over northeastern North America was found to accompany extreme winter weather events such as the 2013–2015 California drought and eastern U.S. cold outbreaks. Referred to as the North American winter dipole (NAWD), previous studies have found both a marked natural variability and a warming-induced amplification trend in the NAWD. In this study, we utilized multiple global reanalysis datasets and existing climate model simulations to examine the variability of the winter planetary wave patterns over North America and to better understand how it is likely to change in the future. We compared between pre- and post-1980 periods to identify changes to the circulation variations based on empirical analysis. It was found that the leading pattern of the winter planetary waves has changed, from the Pacific–North America (PNA) mode to a spatially shifted mode such as NAWD. Further, the potential influence of global warming on NAWD was examined using multiple climate model simulations.
Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0016605
OSTI ID:
1803076
Journal Information:
Atmosphere (Basel), Journal Name: Atmosphere (Basel) Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 10; ISSN 2073-4433; ISSN ATMOCZ
Publisher:
MDPICopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
North American winter dipole
PNA
climate variability