Assessment of the APCC coupled MME suite in predicting the distinctive climate impacts of two flavors of ENSO during boreal winter

Forecast skill of the APEC Climate Center (APCC) Multi-Model Ensemble (MME) seasonal forecast system in predicting two main types of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), namely canonical (or cold tongue) and Modoki ENSO, and their regional climate impacts is assessed for boreal winter. The APCC MME is constructed by simple composite of ensemble forecasts from five independent coupled ocean-atmosphere climate models. Based on a hindcast set targeting boreal winter prediction for the period 1982–2004, we show that the MME can predict and discern the important differences in the patterns of tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly between the canonical and Modoki ENSO one and four month ahead. Importantly, the four month lead MME beats the persistent forecast. The MME reasonably predicts the distinct impacts of the canonical ENSO, including the strong winter monsoon rainfall over East Asia, the below normal rainfall and above normal temperature over Australia, the anomalously wet conditions across the south and cold conditions over the whole area of USA, and the anomalously dry conditions over South America. However, there are some limitations in capturing its regional impacts, especially, over Australasia and tropical South America at a lead time of one and four months. Nonetheless, forecast skills for rainfall and temperature over East Asia and North America during ENSO Modoki are comparable to or slightly higher than those during canonical ENSO events.     

The Indian summer monsoon drought of 2002 and its linkage with tropical convective activity over northwest Pacific

The Indian subcontinent witnessed a severe monsoon drought in 2002, which largely resulted from a major rainfall deficiency in the month of July. While moderate El Nino conditions prevailed during this period, the atmospheric convective activity was anomalously enhanced over northwest and north-central Pacific in the 10–20°N latitude belt; and heavy rainfall occurred over this region in association with a series of northward moving tropical cyclones. Similar out-of-phase rainfall variations over the Indian region and the northwest (NW) Pacific have been observed during other instances of El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The dynamical linkage corresponding to this out-of-phase rainfall variability is explored in this study by conducting a set of numerical experiments using an atmospheric general circulation model. The results from the model simulations lend credence to the role of the tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies in forcing the out-of-phase precipitation variability over the NW Pacific and the Indian monsoon region. It is seen that the ENSO induced circulation response reveals an anomalous pattern comprising of alternating highs and lows which extend meridionally from the equatorial region into the sub-tropic and mid-latitude regions of west-central Pacific. This meridional pattern is associated with an anomalous cyclonic circulation over NW Pacific, which is found to favor enhanced tropical cyclonic activity and intensified convection over the region. In turn, the intensified convection over NW Pacific induces subsidence and rainfall deficiency over the Indian landmass through anomalous east-west circulation in the 10–20°N latitude belt. Based on the present findings, it is suggested that the convective activity over NW Pacific is an important component in mediating the ENSO-monsoon teleconnection dynamics.     

不同太平洋年代际振荡和ENSO位相下大气水分收支变化对北半球冬季太平洋蒸发量的影响

本文利用OAFlux资料研究了1958~2015年北半球冬季太平洋蒸发量在不同厄尔尼诺—南方涛动（ENSO）和太平洋年代际振荡（PDO）位相下的分布特征,并从水汽收支的角度分析了蒸发量异常的成因,结果表明:ENSO主要影响热带东太平洋、副热带西北太平洋和中纬度北太平洋中部的蒸发量。El Ni?o（La Ni?a）时水汽在北太平洋中部异常辐散（辐合）,有利于当地大气水汽含量减小（增大）,造成蒸发量增大（减小）;副热带西北太平洋异常的水汽辐合（辐散）有利于蒸发量减小（增大）;除此以外,蒸发量在热带东太平洋蒸发量增大（减小）则主要是降水量增大（减小）导致。与此同时,ENSO对上述海区蒸发量的影响还受到PDO的调控,当PDO处于暖（冷）位相时,El Ni?o（La Ni?a）造成蒸发量异常程度在中纬度北太平洋中部显著增大,这主要是由降水量增大（减小）引起的大气水汽含量减小（增大）所致,此时对应着风暴轴异常增大（减小）;当PDO处于冷（暖）位相时,El Ni?o（La Ni?a）造成的蒸发量异常程度在副热带西北太平洋和热带东太平洋显著增大,而这与湿度变化引起的水汽平流异常程度增大紧密相关。     

Fluctuations of the relationship between ENSO and northeast Australian rainfall

It is well known that during an El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) warm event, drought occurs in regions of northeastern (NE) Australia, leading to anomalously low annual rainfall. The present study explores fluctuations of this ENSO-rainfall relationship. It is found that the relationship tends to weaken when the linearly detrended global mean temperature is rising or particularly high, as in the period of 1931–45 period and since the late 1970s. Prior to a weakening, a correlation pattern of increased rainfall during El Niño events is seen first in northwestern Australia, then in eastern and southeastern Australia, and eventually in NE Australia. The 1931–45 period was particularly intriguing, when in terms of rainfall variability over NE Australia, the interannual ENSO-rainfall relationship went through a process of weakening, reversal, and rapid recovery. Features associated with the reversal are therefore examined and these features are: (1) the global background anomaly pattern (upon which internnal ENSO events operate) is ENSO-like; (2) ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in tropical Pacific are weaker compared with those averaged over all ENSO events, whereas SST anomalies in the mid- to-high latitude Pacific (which have opposing polarity to those in tropical Pacific) are larger; (3) there is strong coherence between ENSO and variability in northern mid- to high-latitudes; and (4) the relationship that an El Niño event contributes to a warming anomaly of global mean SST weakens. Possible interrelationship among these features are discussed.     

Cyclones and Northern Hemispheric temperature

Summary The relationships between cyclone characteristics and Northern Hemispheric (NH) temperature during the period 1958–1987 are examined by an empirical procedure. The results tend to indicate an increase in the frequency of cyclogenesis in the NW Pacific region but a decrease over the East Asia continent during the period of NH warming. The number of intense and explosive cyclones over northwestern Pacific and shows a similar behaviour. These different responses of cyclone activities may be due to the different trend of the north-south temperature contrast over land and sea in the warm period. On the other hand, the increase of cyclone activities over NW Pacific was also related to the ENSO events, while ENSO has a substantial contribution to the atmospheric warming.With 5 Figures     

Links between rainfall variability on intraseasonal and interannual scales over western Tanzania and regional circulation and SST patterns

Summary This study investigates the circulation anomalies associated with the intraseasonal evolution of wet and dry years over western Tanzania (29–37° E, 11.5–4.75° S) and how the onset and withdrawal of the rainy season as well as its wet spell characteristics are modified. It is found that for wet years, the rains begin earlier and end later, with strong wet spells occurring during the season, and there tend to be a greater number of moderate wet spells (although not necessarily more intense wet spells) than in dry years. In dry years, late onset and early cessation of the rainy season occur, often with an extended dry spell soon after the onset, and there tend to be a greater number of dry spells within the season. Large negative outgoing long wave radiation (OLR) anomaly values tend to be located between 20° and 40° E with anomalous westerly flow at 850 hPa occurring across the continent from 10° E to the tropical western Indian Ocean during wet spells in the anomalously wet seasons. Anomalously dry seasons are characterised by large positive OLR anomalies over 30–50° E as well as easterly anomalies at 850 hPa and westerly anomalies at 200 hPa. Eastward propagating intraseasonal anomalies are slower during the wet years implying that the convection remains over Tanzania longer. On the intraseasonal scale, Hovmoeller analyses of OLR and 850 and 200 hPa zonal wind indicate that convection over western Tanzania may be associated with a flux of moisture from the tropical southeast Atlantic and Congo basin followed by weak easterlies from the tropical western Indian Ocean.On interannual scales, wet (dry) years are characterized over the Indian Ocean by weaker (stronger) equatorial westerlies and weaker (stronger) trades that lead to less (more) export of equatorial moisture away from East Africa and increased (decreased) low-level moisture flux convergence over southern Tanzania, respectively. These anomalies arise from an anticyclonic (cyclonic) anomaly over the tropical western Indian Ocean during wet (dry) austral summers that may be related to cool (warm) SST anomalies there. Large scale modulation of the Indian Ocean Walker cell is also evident in both cases, but particularly for the dry years.Current affiliation: Tanzania Meteorological Agency, P.O. Box 3056, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania     

Nonlinear interdecadal changes of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation

Nonlinear interdecadal changes in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon are investigated using several tools: a nonlinear canonical correlation analysis (NLCCA) method based on neural networks, a hybrid coupled model, and the delayed oscillator theory. The leading NLCCA mode between the tropical Pacific wind stress (WS) and sea surface temperature (SST) reveals notable interdecadal changes of ENSO behaviour before and after the mid 1970s climate regime shift, with greater nonlinearity found during 1981–99 than during 1961–75. Spatial asymmetry (for both SST and WS anomalies) between warm El Niño and cool La Niña events was significantly enhanced in the later period. During 1981–99, the location of the equatorial easterly anomalies was unchanged from the earlier period, but in the opposite ENSO phase, the westerly anomalies were shifted eastward by up to 25°. According to the delayed oscillator theory, such an eastward shift would lengthen the duration of the warm events by up to 45%, but leave the duration of the cool events unchanged. Supporting evidence was found from a hybrid coupled model built with the Lamont dynamical ocean model coupled to a statistical atmospheric model consisting of either the leading NLCCA or CCA mode.     

Changes in the frequency of tropical cyclones over the North Indian Ocean

Summary  Changes in the frequency of tropical cyclones developing over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal have been studied utilizing 122 year (1877–1998) data of tropical cyclone frequency. There have been significant increasing trends in the cyclone frequency over the Bay of Bengal during November and May which are main cyclone months. During transitional monsoon months; June and September however, the frequency has decreased. The results have been presented for five months, i.e., May-November which are relevant as far as tropical cyclone frequency over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal are concerned. The tropical cyclone frequency in the Arabian Sea has not shown any significant trend, probably due to small normal frequency. The frequency time series has been subjected to the spectral analysis to obtain the significant periods. The cyclone frequency over the Bay of Bengal during May has shown a 29 year cycle. A significant 44 year cycle has been found during November. Over the Arabian Sea significant cycles of 13 and 10 years have been observed during May-June and November, respectively. The tropical cyclone frequency in the North Indian Ocean has a prominent El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) scale cycle (2–5 years) during all above five months. The annual cyclone frequency exhibits 29 year and ENSO scale (2–4 years) oscillations. There is a reduction in tropical cyclone activity over the Bay of Bengal in severe cyclone months May and November during warm phases of ENSO. Examination of the frequencies of severe cyclones with maximum sustained winds ≥ 48 knots has revealed that these cyclones have become more frequent in the North Indian Ocean during intense cyclone period of the year. The rate of intensification of tropical disturbances to severe cyclone stage has registered an upward trend. Received June 7, 1999/Revised March 20, 2000     

Tropical cyclone Dera, the unusual 2000/01 tropical cyclone season in the South West Indian Ocean and associated rainfall anomalies over Southern Africa

Summary Austral summer 2000/01 in the southern African region was unusual in several respects. Tropical cyclone activity in the southwest Indian Ocean was substantially less than average despite large areas of this region showing anomalously warm sea surface temperatures (SST) for much of the season. Many areas of southern Africa experienced above average rainfall with local flooding in parts of Mozambique. In the tropical southeast Atlantic, a large warm SST anomaly evolved off the coast of Angola and northern Namibia in late summer suggesting a Benguela Ni?o event. During the late summer (February–April 2001), three particularly widespread and intense wet spells occurred over tropical southern Africa, one of which coincided with tropical cyclone Dera. This study considers the generation and evolution of the middle wet spell of late summer 2001 and its relationship with tropical cyclone Dera. This storm was generated in the northwestern part of the Mozambique Channel and then tracked more or less due south through the Channel and into the subtropical southwest Indian Ocean. Rainfall associated with Dera contributed to the ongoing floods over central Mozambique that arose from rains earlier in the season. Dera occurred in early March following a relatively long period of no tropical cyclone activity in the southwest Indian Ocean. A build up of favorable conditions during the preceding weeks contributed towards the storm whereas an anticyclonic anomaly east of Madagascar led to the northerly steering current and the southward track of tropical cyclone Dera out of the Mozambique Channel.     

Seasonal and Diurnal Variations of Cloud Systems over the Eastern Tibetan Plateau and East China: A Cloud-resolving Model Study

The seasonal and diurnal variations of cloud systems are profoundly affected by the large-scale and local environments. In this study, a one-year-long simulation was conducted using a two-dimensional cloud-resolving model over the Eastern Tibetan Plateau (ETP) and two subregions of Eastern China: Southern East China and Central East China. Deep convective clouds (DCCs) rarely occur in the cold season over ETP, whereas DCCs appear in Eastern China throughout the year, and the ETP DCCs are approximately 20%?30% shallower than those over Eastern China. Most strong rainfall events (precipitation intensity, PI> 2.5 mm h^?1) in Eastern China are related to warm-season DCCs with ice cloud processes. Because of the high elevation of the ETP, the warm-season freezing level is lower than in Eastern China, providing favorable conditions for ice cloud processes. DCCs are responsible for the diurnal variations of warm-season rainfall in all three regions. Warm-season DCCs over the ETP have the greatest total cloud water content and frequency in the afternoon, resulting in an afternoon rainfall peak. In addition, rainfall events in the ETP also exhibit a nocturnal peak in spring, summer, and autumn due to DCCs. Strong surface heat fluxes around noon can trigger or promote DCCs in spring, summer, and autumn over the ETP but produce only cumulus clouds in winter due to the cold and dry environment.     

Instability of squall-inducing waves, global sea-surface temperature anomalies and climate change in tropical north Africa

Summary An inviscid form of the hydrodynamical equations is solved with enhanced horizontal shear, which is a synoptic feature consistent with stronger African Easterly Jet (AEJ) in Sahelian dry years, for unstable waves generated along the boundary between the two tropospheric air masses in tropical north Africa (i.e. the moist south-westerlies and the dry north-easterlies). Using a two-layer model of the atmosphere in order to correctly simulate the tropospheric synoptic situation in the sub-region, results show that the mode of the waves which is known to be fundamental to the development of West African squall lines is more unstable in dry years. This instability is found to be most-pronounced when the surface of discontinuity between the south-westerlies and the north-easterlies is at 700 mb level. Further, it is shown that in Sahelian dry years, the zone of these unstable waves shifts slightly southwards. This shift causes a deficit in rainfall in West African isohyet bands north of latitude 12°. The persistence of this deficit is linked with the continuous warming, in July, August and September of the 18-year period 1969–1986, of the three oceans (Indian, Pacific and South Atlantic) whose sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies influence rainfall in tropical north Africa. It is shown that anytime these oceans warm up anomalously, the strength of the AEJ is enhanced leading to the climate-change process of: SST anomaly, increased AEJ strength, southward shift of the zone of squall-inducing waves and consequent reduction in total annual rainfall north of latitude 12° in tropical north Africa.With 5 Figures     

Simulation of the variability and extremes of daily rainfall during the Indian summer monsoon for present and future times in a global time-slice experiment

In this study the simulation of the variability and extremes of daily rainfall during the Indian summer monsoon for the present-day and the future climate is investigated. This is done on the basis of a global time-slice experiment (TSL) with the ECHAM4 atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) at a high horizontal resolution of T106. The first time-slice (period: 1970–1999) represents the present-day climate and the second (2060–2089) the future climate. Moreover, observational rainfall data from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP, 1997–2002) and rainfall data from the ECMWF re-analysis (ERA, 1958–2001) are considered. ERA reveals serious deficiencies in its representation of the variability and extremes of daily rainfall during the Indian summer monsoon. These are mainly a severe overestimation of the frequency of wet days over the oceans and in the Himalayas, where also the rainfall intensity is overestimated. Further, ERA shows unrealistically heavy rainfall events over the tropical Indian Ocean. The ECHAM4 atmospheric GCM at a horizontal resolution of T106, on the other hand, simulates the variability and extremes of daily rainfall in good agreement with the observations. The only marked deficiencies are an underestimation of the rainfall intensity on the west coast of the Indian peninsula and in Bangladesh, an overestimation over the tropical Indian Ocean, due to an erroneous northwestward extension of the tropical convergence zone, and an overestimation of the frequency of wet days in Tibet. Further, heavy rainfall events are relatively strong in the centre of the Indian peninsula. For the future, TSL predicts large increases in the rainfall intensity over the tropical Indian Ocean as well as in northern Pakistan and northwest India, but decreases in southern Pakistan, in the centre of the Indian peninsula, and over the western part of the Bay of Bengal. The frequency of wet days is markedly increased over the tropical Indian Ocean and decreased over the northern part of the Arabian Sea and in Tibet. The intensity of heavy rainfall events is generally increased in the future, with large increases over the Arabian Sea and the tropical Indian Ocean, in northern Pakistan and northwest India as well as in northeast India, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.     

The preconditioning role of Tropical Atlantic Variability in the development of the ENSO teleconnection: implications for the prediction of Nordeste rainfall

A comparison of rainfall variability in the semi-arid Brazilian Nordeste in observations and in two sets of model simulations leads to the conclusion that the evolving interaction between Tropical Atlantic Variability (TAV) and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon can explain two puzzling features of ENSOs impact on the Nordeste: (1) the event-to-event unpredictability of ENSOs impact; (2) the greater impact of cold rather than warm ENSO events during the past 50 years. The explanation is in the preconditioning role of Tropical Atlantic Variability. When, in seasons prior to the mature phase of ENSO, the tropical Atlantic happens to be evolving consistently with the development expected of the ENSO teleconnection, ENSO and TAV add up to force large anomalies in Nordeste rainfall. When it happens to be evolving in opposition to the canonical development of ENSO, then the net outcome is less obvious, but also less anomalous. The more frequent occurrence of tropical Atlantic conditions consistent with those that develop during a cold ENSO event, i.e. of a negative meridional sea surface temperature gradient, explains the weaker warm ENSO and stronger cold ENSO anomalies in Nordeste rainfall of the latter part of the twentieth century. Close monitoring of the evolution of the tropical Atlantic in seasons prior to the mature phase of ENSO should lead to an enhanced forecast potential.     

Ecological Implications of Changes in Drought Patterns: Shifts in Forest Composition in Panama

CO₂ concentration is increasing, temperature is likely to rise, and precipitation patterns might change. Of these potential climatic shifts, it is precipitation that will have the most impact on tropical forests, and seasonal patterns of rainfall and drought will probably be more important than the total quantity of precipitation. Many tree species are limited in distribution by their inability to survive drought. In a 50 ha forest plot at Barro Colorado Island in Panama (BCI), nearly all tree and shrub species associated with moist microhabitats are declining in abundance due to a decline in rainfall and lengthening dry seasons. This information forms the basis for a simple, general prediction: drying trends can rapidly remove drought-sensitive species from a forest. If the drying trend continues at BCI, the invasion of drought-tolerant species would be anticipated, but computer models predict that it could take 500 or more years for tree species to invade and become established. Predicting climate-induced changes in tropical forest also requires geographic information on tree distribution relative to precipitation patterns. In central Panama, species with the most restricted ranges are those from areas with a short dry season (10–14 weeks): 26–39% of the tree species in these wet regions do not occur where it is drier. In comparison, just 11–19% of species from the drier side of Panama (18 week dry season) are restricted to the dry region. From this information, I predict that a four-week extension of the dry season could eliminate 25% of the species locally; a nine-week extension in very wet regions could cause 40% extinction. Since drier forests are more deciduous than wetter forests, satellite images that monitor deciduousness might provide a way to assess long-term forest changes caused by changes in drought patterns. I predict that increasing rainfall and shorter dry seasons would not cause major extinction in tropical forest, but that drying trends are a much greater concern. Longer dry seasons may cause considerable local extinction of tree species and rapid forest change, and they will also tend to exacerbate direct human damage, which tends to favor drought-adapted and invasive tree species in favor of moisture-demanding ones.     

Recently increased tropical cyclone activity and inferences concerning coastal erosion and inland hydrological regimes in New Zealand and Eastern Australia

For the area bounded by 0–35 °S latitude and 105 °E–105 °W longitude a significant increase of tropical cyclone frequency occurred about 1954–55 and this regime persisted throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Probably this frequency increase was accompanied by an increase of cyclonic storm intensity. It was related to an atmospheric pressure regime change over Australasia which commenced in early 1954. Tropical cyclones produce large rainfall amounts and strong winds which generate high-energy sea waves. Severe damage can result on land and at sea. However, much recently recorded damage has resulted from extra-tropical cyclones. Therefore it is postulated that extra-tropical cyclones also increased in frequency after the mid 1950s and that both types of cyclone contributed to a significant increase in total storminess. In eastern Australia and around both islands of New Zealand a major coastal regime change occurred in the 1950s and has persisted to the present;erosion has been the dominant process. In eastern Australia there was a significant increase in the magnitude of river floods after the late 1940s. After the mid 1950s most of the North Island of New Zealand experienced the wettest years of this century which caused large closed lakes to reach the highest levels for several centuries. Throughout the North Island the majority of the greatest recorded stream floods of this century have occurred during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. And in forested mountain areas of the North Island the average rate of erosion and alluvial sedimentation increased markedly after the mid 1950s. The regime change of each natural phenomenon is explicable in terms of increased storminess since the mid 1950s. Consequently it is hypothesised that the coastal and inland environmental regime changes discussed were either initiated or accentuated after the mid 1950s as a result of increased activity of both tropical and extra-tropical cyclones. Some further studies, necessary to test the links in the overall hypothesis, are mentioned.     

Statistical models for predicting rainfall in the Caribbean

Summary Separate predictive models are created for the Caribbean early wet season (May–June–July) and late wet season (August–September–October). Simple correlations are used to select predictors for a Caribbean rainfall index and predictive equations are formulated using multiple linear regression. The process is repeated after long term trends are removed from the Caribbean rainfall index and the models validated using a number of statistical methods. Four variables are confirmed as predictors for the early season: Caribbean sea surface temperature anomalies, tropical North Atlantic sea level pressure anomalies, vertical shear anomalies in the equatorial Atlantic, and the size of the Atlantic portion of the Western Hemisphere Warm Pool. Only the first two are retained in the late season model. On the interannual time-scale, equatorial Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies become significant in both seasons. The NINO3 index is retained among the predictors for the early season, and zonal gradients of sea surface temperature between the equatorial Pacific and tropical Atlantic are retained for the late season. The results also indicate spatial variation in the importance of the seasonal predictors.     

Climatic warming and increased summer aridity in Florida,U.S.A.

The impending trace-gas induced climatic warming is likely, at least in the near term, to result in a decrease in summertime convective activity in Florida, in turn producing a reduction in thunderstorm-derived precipitation. The phenomenon is expected to arise from the differential heating of continental land masses relative to the ocean resulting in a strengthening of the North Atlantic subtropical anticyclone. Precipitation shortfalls of 10–20% were recorded for some areas during Northern Hemispheric summer months a few tenths of a degree Celsius warmer than the normal for the period 1901–1980. Deficits somewhat greater than these may not be uncommon during a fullscale climatic warming depending on, among other factors, the rapidity of the warming. Precipitation resulting from tropical cyclones is not expected to have significant positive impact on the shortfall in the near term.     

Tree-ring reconstructed rainfall variability in Zimbabwe

We present the first tree-ring reconstruction of rainfall in tropical Africa using a 200-year regional chronology based on samples of Pterocarpus angolensis from Zimbabwe. The regional chronology is significantly correlated with summer rainfall (November–February) from 1901 to 1948, and the derived reconstruction explains 46% of the instrumental rainfall variance during this period. The reconstruction is well correlated with indices of the El Niño-southern oscillation (ENSO), and national maize yields. An aridity trend in instrumental rainfall beginning in about 1960 is partially reproduced in the reconstruction, and similar trends are evident in the nineteenth century. A decadal-scale drought reconstructed from 1882 to 1896 matches the most severe sustained drought during the instrumental period (1989–1995), and is confirmed in part by documentary evidence. An even more severe drought is indicated from 1859 to 1868 in both the tree-ring and documentary data, but its true magnitude is uncertain. A 6-year wet period at the turn of the nineteenth century (1897–1902) exceeds any wet episode during the instrumental era. The reconstruction exhibits spectral power at ENSO, decadal and multi-decadal frequencies. Composite analysis of global sea surface temperature during unusually wet and dry years also suggests a linkage between reconstructed rainfall and ENSO.     

Observed precipitation in the Paraná-Plata hydrological basin: long-term trends, extreme conditions and ENSO teleconnections

The Paraná-Plata basin is the second largest hydrological basin in South America and is of great importance for the countries of the region (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). The present study focuses on the long-term trends in basin-scale precipitation with special emphasis on the role of distribution changes in extreme large-scale precipitation events and on the characteristics and evolution of ENSO teleconnections over the last 50 years. First, we defined a Paraná-Plata basin total precipitation index (PTPI) as the precipitations spatially averaged over the hydrological basin. On interannual time scales, such an index is mainly representative of anomalous monsoon precipitations in the northern part of the basin and large convective precipitation anomalies in the center of the basin (Paraguay-southern Brazil-Uruguay-northern Argentina) typical of the canonical ENSO teleconnection pattern. Our major findings clearly highlight a positive trend in yearly averaged PTPI mainly from the late 1960s to the early 1980s with a strong dependence from month-to-month. The largest precipitation increase is observed from November to May in southern Brazil and Argentina. A close examination of PTPI distributions during the two halves of the period 1950–2001 shows that the changes in the mean state from 1950–1975 to 1976–2001 result from significant changes in each calendar month mean state and in the tails of the PTPI anomaly distributions in May with lesser and weaker large-scale dry events and stronger large-scale wet events. Further studies will be needed to assess whether the observed trend in large-scale extreme precipitation conditions can be related to natural climate variability or anthropogenic activities and whether it is associated to changes in local/regional extreme events. The stronger wet conditions in different months seem to be associated to changes in ENSO characteristics (amplitude, propagation, spatial structure, ...) since the 1982–1983 El Niño. Indeed, spatial ENSO teleconnections (stronger in November and April–May) have greatly evolved from 1950–1975 to 1976–2001. Moreover, we demonstrate that there is a strong modulation and displacement of the teleconnection patterns from one event to another, impeding the definition of robust statistical relationship between ENSO and precipitation in the Paraná-Plata basin (except maybe over a very limited area near the common border between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil). Finally, the non-antisymmetrical patterns of precipitation between El Niño and La Niña conditions and the non-linear relationship between precipitation and either Niño3.4 or Niño1+2 sea surface temperature indices show that linear statistical forecast systems are actually of very limited use for impact predictions on society on a local or regional scale.     

A plausible reason for changes in El Niño parameters in the 2000s

An attempt is made to find a plausible reason for the weakening of the interrelation between the variability in wind and water volume in the tropical warm pool in the western equatorial Pacific and the onset of El Niño–Southern Oscillation event (ENSO). It is demonstrated that variability in the atmospheric dynamics near the Drake Passage can affect the ENSO development. The weakening of the interrelation between ENSO and the variability in wind together with water volume in the tropical warm pool is caused by the fact that the processes of atmosphere–ocean interaction in the tropical Pacific started exerting smaller influence on the ENSO development (as compared with the processes in the Southern Ocean). This is due to warmer ocean conditions registered since the late 1990s that favored the decrease in the zonal gradient of temperature in the ocean surface layer in the tropics and led to lower atmospheric variability in the tropical Pacific whereas this variability remained the same over the Southern Ocean.