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Title: Remote Linkages to Anomalous Winter Atmospheric Ridging Over the Northeastern Pacific

Abstract

Abstract Severe drought in California between 2013 and 2016 has been linked to the multiyear persistence of anomalously high atmospheric pressure over the northeastern Pacific Ocean, which deflected the Pacific storm track northward and suppressed regional precipitation during California's winter “rainy season.” Multiple hypotheses have emerged regarding why this high pressure ridge near the west coast of North America was so resilient—including unusual sea surface temperature patterns in the Pacific Ocean, reductions in Arctic sea ice, random atmospheric variability, or some combination thereof. Here we explore relationships between previously documented atmospheric conditions over the North Pacific and several potential remote oceanic and cryospheric influences using both observational data and a large ensemble of climate model simulations. Our results suggest that persistent wintertime atmospheric ridging similar to that implicated in California's 2013–2016 drought can at least partially be linked to unusual Pacific sea surface temperatures and that Pacific Ocean conditions may offer some degree of cool‐season foresight in this region despite the presence of substantial internal variability.

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5]; ORCiD logo [6]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Department of Earth System Science Stanford University Stanford CA USA, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability University of California Los Angeles CA USA
  2. Department of Earth System Science Stanford University Stanford CA USA, Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory Columbia University Palisades NY USA
  3. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Northwestern University Evanston IL USA
  4. Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory Columbia University Palisades NY USA, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies New York NY USA
  5. Department of Earth System Science Stanford University Stanford CA USA
  6. Department of Earth System Science Stanford University Stanford CA USA, Woods Institute for the Environment Stanford University Stanford CA USA
Publication Date:
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1410364
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC005171; DE‐SC005171
Resource Type:
Publisher's Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Journal Volume: 122 Journal Issue: 22; Journal ID: ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Citation Formats

Swain, Daniel L., Singh, Deepti, Horton, Daniel E., Mankin, Justin S., Ballard, Tristan C., and Diffenbaugh, Noah S. Remote Linkages to Anomalous Winter Atmospheric Ridging Over the Northeastern Pacific. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1002/2017JD026575.
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Swain, Daniel L., Singh, Deepti, Horton, Daniel E., Mankin, Justin S., Ballard, Tristan C., & Diffenbaugh, Noah S. Remote Linkages to Anomalous Winter Atmospheric Ridging Over the Northeastern Pacific. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026575
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Swain, Daniel L., Singh, Deepti, Horton, Daniel E., Mankin, Justin S., Ballard, Tristan C., and Diffenbaugh, Noah S. Fri . "Remote Linkages to Anomalous Winter Atmospheric Ridging Over the Northeastern Pacific". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026575.
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@article{osti_1410364,
title = {Remote Linkages to Anomalous Winter Atmospheric Ridging Over the Northeastern Pacific},
author = {Swain, Daniel L. and Singh, Deepti and Horton, Daniel E. and Mankin, Justin S. and Ballard, Tristan C. and Diffenbaugh, Noah S.},
abstractNote = {Abstract Severe drought in California between 2013 and 2016 has been linked to the multiyear persistence of anomalously high atmospheric pressure over the northeastern Pacific Ocean, which deflected the Pacific storm track northward and suppressed regional precipitation during California's winter “rainy season.” Multiple hypotheses have emerged regarding why this high pressure ridge near the west coast of North America was so resilient—including unusual sea surface temperature patterns in the Pacific Ocean, reductions in Arctic sea ice, random atmospheric variability, or some combination thereof. Here we explore relationships between previously documented atmospheric conditions over the North Pacific and several potential remote oceanic and cryospheric influences using both observational data and a large ensemble of climate model simulations. Our results suggest that persistent wintertime atmospheric ridging similar to that implicated in California's 2013–2016 drought can at least partially be linked to unusual Pacific sea surface temperatures and that Pacific Ocean conditions may offer some degree of cool‐season foresight in this region despite the presence of substantial internal variability.},
doi = {10.1002/2017JD026575},
journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres},
number = 22,
volume = 122,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Nov 24 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Fri Nov 24 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}
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Journal Article:
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Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)
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https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026575
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