Anomalous Western Pacific Subtropical High during Late Summer in Weak La Nia Years: Contrast between 1981 and 2013

Both 1981 and 2013 were weak La Niña years with a similar sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly in the tropical Pacific, yet the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) during August exhibited an opposite anomaly in the two years. A comparison indicates that, in the absence of a strong SST anomaly in the tropics, the cold advection from Eurasian high latitudes and the convection of the western Pacific warm pool play important roles in influencing the strength and position of the WPSH in August. In August 1981, the spatial pattern of 500 hPa geopotential height was characterized by a meridional circulation with a strong ridge in the Ural Mountains and a deep trough in Siberia, which provided favorable conditions for cold air invading into the lower latitudes. Accordingly, the geopotential height to the north of the WPSH was reduced by the cold advection anomaly from high latitudes, resulting in an eastward retreat of the WPSH. Moreover, an anomalous cyclonic circulation in the subtropical western Pacific, excited by enhanced warm pool convection, also contributed to the eastward retreat of the WPSH. By contrast, the influence from high latitudes was relatively weak in August 2013 due to a zonal circulation pattern over Eurasia, and the anomalous anticyclonic circulation induced by suppressed warm pool convection also facilitated the westward extension of the WPSH. Therefore, the combined effects of the high latitude and tropical circulations may contribute a persistent anomaly of the WPSH in late summer, despite the tropical SST anomaly being weak.     

Longitudinal Displacement of the Subtropical High in the Western Pacific in Summer and its Influence

Using the relative vorticity averaged over a certain area, a new index for measuring the longitudinal position of the subtropical high (SH) in the western Pacific is proposed to avoid the increasing trend of heights in the previous indices based on geopotential height. The years of extreme westward and eastward extension of SH using the new index are in good agreement with those defined by height index. There exists a distinct difference in large-scale circulation between the eastward and westward extension of SH under the new definition, which includes not only the circulation in the middle latitudes but also the flow in the lower latitudes. It seems that when the SH extends far to the east (west), the summer monsoon in the South China Sea is stronger (weaker) and established earlier (later). In addition, there exists a good relationship between the longitudinal position of SH and the summer rainfall in China. A remarkable negative correlation area appears in the Changjiang River valley, indicating that when the SH extends westward (eastward), the precipitation in that region increases (decreases). A positive correlation region is found in South China, showing the decrease of rainfall when the SH extends westward. On the other hand, the rainfall is heavier when the SH retreats eastward. However, the anomalous longitudinal position of SH is not significantly related to the precipitation in North China. The calculation of correlation coefficients between the index of longitudinal position of SH and surface temperature in China shows that a large area of positive values, higher than 0.6 in the center, covers the whole of North China, even extending eastward to the Korean Peninsula and Japan Islands when using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data to do the correlation calculation. This means that when the longitudinal position of the SH withdraws eastward in summer, the temperature over North China is higher. On the other hand, when it moves westward, the temperature there is lower. This could explain the phenomenon of the seriously high temperatures over North China during recent summers, because the longitudinal position of SH in recent summers was located far away from the Asian continent. Another region with large negative correlation coefficients is found in South China.     

Theories on Formation of an Anomalous Anticyclone in Western North Pacific during El Ni?o: A Review

The western North Pacific anomalous anticyclone(WNPAC) is an important atmospheric circulation system that conveys El Ni?o impact on East Asian climate. In this review paper, various theories on the formation and maintenance of the WNPAC, including warm pool atmosphere–ocean interaction, Indian Ocean capacitor, a combination mode that emphasizes nonlinear interaction between ENSO and annual cycle, moist enthalpy advection/Rossby wave modulation, and central Pacific SST forcing, are discussed. It is concluded that local atmosphere–ocean interaction and moist enthalpy advection/Rossby wave modulation mechanisms are essential for the initial development and maintenance of the WNPAC during El Ni?o mature winter and subsequent spring. The Indian Ocean capacitor mechanism does not contribute to the earlier development but helps maintain the WNPAC in El Ni?o decaying summer.The cold SST anomaly in the western North Pacific, although damped in the summer, also plays a role. An interbasin atmosphere–ocean interaction across the Indo-Pacific warm pool emerges as a new mechanism in summer. In addition, the central Pacific cold SST anomaly may induce the WNPAC during rapid El Ni?o decaying/La Ni?a developing or La Ni?a persisting summer. The near-annual periods predicted by the combination mode theory are hardly detected from observations and thus do not contribute to the formation of the WNPAC. The tropical Atlantic may have a capacitor effect similar to the tropical Indian Ocean.     

Anomalous winter climate conditions in the Pacific rim during recent El Niño Modoki and El Niño events

Present work compares impacts of El Niño Modoki and El Niño on anomalous climate in the Pacific rim during boreal winters of 1979–2005. El Niño Modoki (El Niño) is associated with tripole (dipole) patterns in anomalies of sea-surface temperature, precipitation, and upper-level divergent wind in the tropical Pacific, which are related to multiple “boomerangs” of ocean-atmosphere conditions in the Pacific. Zonal and meridional extents of those “boomerangs” reflect their independent influences, which are seen from lower latitudes in the west to higher latitudes in the east. In the central Pacific, more moisture is transported from the tropics to higher latitudes during El Niño Modoki owing to displacement of the wet “boomerang” arms more poleward toward east. Discontinuities at outer “boomerang” arms manifest intense interactions between tropical and subtropical/extratropical systems. The Pacific/North American pattern and related climate anomalies in North America found in earlier studies are modified in very different ways by the two phenomena. The seesaw with the dry north and the wet south in the western USA is more likely to occur during El Niño Modoki, while much of the western USA is wet during El Niño. The moisture to the southwestern USA is transported from the northward shifted ITCZ during El Niño Modoki, while it is carried by the storms traveling along the southerly shifted polar front jet during El Niño. The East Asian winter monsoon related anticyclone is over the South China Sea during El Niño Modoki as compared to its position over the Philippine Sea during El Niño, causing opposite precipitation anomalies in the southern East Asia between the two phenomena.     

Anomalous climatic conditions associated with the El Ni?o Modoki during boreal winter of 2009

The winter months from December 2009 to February 2010 witnessed extreme conditions affecting lives of millions of people around the globe. During this winter, the El Ni?o Modoki in the tropical Pacific was a dominant climatic mode. In this study, exclusive impacts of the El Ni?o Modoki are evaluated with an Atmospheric General Circulation Model. Sensitivity experiments are conducted by selectively specifying anomalies of the observed sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific. Observed data are also used in the diagnostics to trace the source of forced Rossby waves. Both the observational results and the model simulated results show that the heating associated with the El Ni?o Modoki in the central tropical Pacific accounted for most of the anomalous conditions observed over southern parts of North America, Europe and over most countries in the Southern Hemisphere viz. Uruguay. Unlike those, the model-simulated results suggest that the anomalously high precipitation observed over Australia and Florida might be associated with the narrow eastern Pacific heating observed during the season.     

Propagation of Strong Wave Package Center and Latitudinal Movement of Western Pacific Subtropical High

On the basis of studying wave package propagation,this paper investigated the relationship between high frequency wave package propagation and transient waves' evolvement or the subtropical high's latitudinal movement.The results showed that during winter the lifetime of wave package was longer and usually persisted for 7-10 days with a propagating speed of 2-10 m s~(-1).Usually they propagated southeastward at the beginning,then turned to northeast.During summer the lifetime and intensity of wave package became shorter and weaker.It availed development (attenuation) of troughs when the strong wave package center was intensified (weakened) which overlapped with trough.If strong wave package center kept overlapping with ridge,the ridge would abate later in a few days.Obvious jumping northward (retreating southward) processes of Western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) were (not) usually related to strong wave package centers located at South China Sea area (South Asia area and Temperate Zone) for 5 days or longer.After two seasonal jumping processes,there were persisting strong wave package centers for 5 days or longer. WPSH retreating processes were also related to activities of strong wave package centers over South Asian area and temperate area as well as the strong wave package centers of typhoon,and all these centers persisted for 5 days or longer.     

Tropical Cyclones over the Western North Pacific Strengthen the East Asia–Pacific Pattern during Summer

The contribution of tropical cyclones(TCs)to the East Asia–Pacific(EAP)teleconnection pattern during summer was investigated using the best track data of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center and NCEP-2 reanalysis datasets from 1979 to2018.The results showed that the TCs over the western North Pacific(WNP)correspond to a strengthened EAP pattern:During the summers of strong convection over the tropical WNP,TC days correspond to a stronger cyclonic circulation anomaly over the WNP in the lower troposphere,an enhanced seesaw pattern of negative and positive geopotential height anomalies over the subtropical WNP and midlatitude East Asia in the middle troposphere,and a more northward shift of the East Asian westerly jet in the upper troposphere.Further analyses indicated that two types of TCs with distinctly different tracks,i.e.,westward-moving TCs and northward-moving TCs,both favor the EAP pattern.The present results imply that TCs over the WNP,as extreme weather,can contribute significantly to summer-mean climate anomalies over the WNP and East Asia.     

Extremely Active Tropical Cyclone Activities over the Western North Pacific and South China Sea in Summer 2018: Joint Effects of Decaying La Ni?a and Intraseasonal Oscillation

In summer 2018, a total of 18 tropical cyclones(TCs) formed in the western North Pacific(WNP) and South China Sea(SCS), among which 8 TCs landed in China, ranking respectively the second and the first highest since 1951.Most of these TCs travelled northwest to northward, bringing in heavy rainfall and strong winds in eastern China and Japan. The present study investigates the impacts of decaying La Ni?a and intraseasonal oscillation(ISO) on the extremely active TCs over the WNP and SCS in summer 2018 by use of correlation and composite analyses. It is found that the La Ni?a episode from October 2017 to March 2018 led to above-normal sea surface temperature(SST) over central–western Pacific, lower sea level pressure and 500-hPa geopotential height over WNP, and abnormally strong convective activities over the western Pacific in summer 2018. These preceding oceanic thermal conditions and their effects on circulation anomalies are favorable to TC genesis in summer. Detailed examination reveals that the monsoon trough was located further north and east, inducing more TCs in northern and eastern WNP; and the more eastward WNP subtropical high as well as the significant wave train with a "-+-+" height anomaly pattern over the midlatitude Eurasia–North Pacific region facilitated the northwest to northward TC tracks. Further analyses reveal that two successively active periods of Madden–Julian Oscillation(MJO) occurred in summer 2018 and the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation(BSISO) was also active over WNP, propagating northward significantly, corresponding to the more northward TC tracks. The MJO was stagnant over the Maritime Continent to western Pacific,leading to notably enhanced convection in the lower troposphere and divergence in the upper troposphere, conducive to TC occurrences. In a word, the extremely active TC activities over the WNP and SCS in summer 2018 are closely linked with the decaying La Ni?a, and the MJO and BSISO; their joint effects result in increased TC occurrences and the TC tracks being shifted more northwest to northward than normal.     

Vertical structure variability and equatorial waves during central Pacific and eastern Pacific El Ni?os in a coupled general circulation model

Recent studies report that two types of El Ni?o events have been observed. One is the cold tongue El Ni?o or Eastern Pacific El Ni?o (EP El Ni?o), which is characterized by relatively large sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the eastern Pacific, and the other is the warm pool El Ni?o (a.k.a. ‘Central Pacific El Ni?o’ (CP El Ni?o) or ‘El Ni?o Modoki’), in which SST anomalies are confined to the central Pacific. Here the vertical structure variability of the periods during EP and CP is investigated based on the GFDL_CM2.1 model in order to explain the difference in equatorial wave dynamics and associated negative feedback mechanisms. It is shown that the mean stratification in the vicinity of the thermocline of the central Pacific is reduced during CP El Ni?o, which favours the contribution of the gravest baroclinic mode relatively to the higher-order slower baroclinic mode. Energetic Kelvin and first-meridional Rossby wave are evidenced during the CP El Ni?o with distinctive amplitude and propagating characteristics according to their vertical structure (mostly first and second baroclinic modes). In particular, the first baroclinic mode during CP El Ni?o is associated to the ocean basin mode and participates to the recharge process during the whole El Ni?o cycle, whereas the second baroclinic mode is mostly driving the discharge process through the delayed oscillator mechanism. This may explain that the phase transition from warm to neutral/cold conditions during the CP El Ni?o is delayed and/or disrupted compared to the EP El Ni?o. Our results have implications for the interpretation of the variability during periods of high CP El Ni?o occurrence like the last decade.     

Relationship Between the Eastern Tibetan Plateau Rainfall and Subtropical High Shift in Summer

Based on the routine rainfall data on the Tibetan Plateau and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data,the rela- tionship between the eastern Tibetan Plateau rainfall and the southward/northward shift of West Pacific subtropical high in summer of 1993/1994 is studied.The results show that:the West Pacific subtropi- cal high is abnormally located to more southern latitude and the high ridge is mainly the quasi-biweekly southward/northward oscillation in its processes of northward shift from May to August in 1993;but it is ab- normally located to more northern latitude and the high ridge is obviously 30-60-day southward/northward oscillation in its processes of northward shift from May to August in 1994.At the same time,it is found that the changes of the eastern Tibetan Plateau rainfall active/break have the similar characteristics of the high ridge southward/northward oscillation.Therefore,the southward/northward shift of the West Pacific subtropical high in summer may be related to the changes of eastern Tibetan Plateau rainfall active/break.     

Circulation anomalies in the atmospheric centers of action during the Eastern Pacific and Central Pacific El Niño

Based on the statistical analysis the teleconnections between circulation anomalies in the atmospheric centers of action and sea surface temperature anomalies are revealed for two types of El Niño. It is demonstrated that for the Eastern Pacific El Niño stronger teleconnections are registered in the Northern Hemisphere whereas the response to the Central Pacific El Niño is much stronger in the Southern Hemisphere. The Central Pacific El Niño is characterized by the more rapid signal propagation from the tropical zone to distant regions. In some cases the pattern of interaction with the atmospheric circulation considerably differs for two types of El Niño that defines differences in the fields of weather anomalies.     

Why Does Extreme Rainfall Occur in Central China during the Summer of 2020 after a Weak El Ni?o?

In summer 2020, extreme rainfall occurred throughout the Yangtze River basin, Huaihe River basin, and southern Yellow River basin, which are defined here as the central China (CC) region. However, only a weak central Pacific (CP) El Ni?o happened during winter 2019/20, so the correlations between the El Ni?o–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices and ENSO-induced circulation anomalies were insufficient to explain this extreme precipitation event. In this study, reanalysis data and numerical experiments are employed to identify and verify the primary ENSO-related factors that cause this extreme rainfall event. During summer 2020, unusually strong anomalous southwesterlies on the northwest side of an extremely strong Northwest Pacific anticyclone anomaly (NWPAC) contributed excess moisture and convective instability to the CC region, and thus, triggered extreme precipitation in this area. The tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) has warmed in recent decades, and consequently, intensified TIO basinwide warming appears after a weak El Ni?o, which excites an extremely strong NWPAC via the pathway of the Indo-western Pacific Ocean capacitor (IPOC) effect. Additionally, the ENSO event of 2019/20 should be treated as a fast-decaying CP El Ni?o rather than a general CP El Ni?o, so that the circulation and precipitation anomalies in summer 2020 can be better understood. Last, the increasing trend of tropospheric temperature and moisture content in the CC region after 2000 is also conducive to producing heavy precipitation.     

Revisiting Asymmetry for the Decaying Phases of El Ni?o and La Ni?a

This study investigated the relationship between the asymmetry in the duration of El Ni?o and La Ni?a and the length of their decaying phases. The results suggested that the duration asymmetry comes from the long decaying ENSO cases rather than the short decaying ones. The evolutions of short decaying El Ni?o and La Ni?a are approximately a mirror image with a rapid decline in the following summer for the warm and cold events. However, a robust asymmetry was found in long decaying cases, with a prolonged and re-intensified La Ni?a in the following winter. The asymmetry for long decaying cases starts from the westward extension of the zonal wind anomalies in a mature winter, and is further contributed to by the air-sea interaction over the tropical Pacific in the following seasons.     

Diagnosis of the Medium-Range Variation of the Subtropical High over the Western Pacific during a Meiyu Process by Three-Dimensional E－P Flux

In this paper, using the daily grid data (2.5 × 2.5) of the ECMWF / WMO, we have computed respectively the three-dimensional wave activity flux in the stages of pre-onset, prevailing and post ending of Meiyu from 1 to 31 July 1982. The potential vorticity field is taken as the physical quantity relating the wave activity flux to the variation of the subtropical high over the Western Pacific. It is found that the three-dimensional wave activity flux is a powerful means for diagnosis of the variation of the subtropical high over the Western Pacific: The region of the subtropical high is just the confluence area of wave energy, whose changes in intensity and range decide the variation of the subtropical high. The confluence of wave energy comes from the monsoon flow in low latitudes, the Meiyu rain belts in middle latitudes and the heating fields on the eastern side of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. The relation between these sources and the subtropical high displays the self-adjusting mechanism among member     

Are the teleconnections of Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Niño distinct in boreal wintertime?

A meteorological reanalysis dataset and experiments of the Goddard Earth Observing System Chemistry-Climate Model, Version 2 (GEOS V2 CCM) are used to study the boreal winter season teleconnections in the Pacific-North America region and in the stratosphere generated by Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Niño. In the reanalysis data, the sign of the North Pacific and stratospheric response to Central Pacific El Niño is sensitive to the composite size, the specific Central Pacific El Niño index used, and the month or seasonal average that is examined, highlighting the limitations of the short observational record. Long model integrations suggest that the response to the two types of El Niño are similar in both the extratropical troposphere and stratosphere. Namely, both Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Niño lead to a deepened North Pacific low and a weakened polar vortex, and the effects are stronger in late winter than in early winter. However, the long experiments do indicate some differences between the two types of El Niño events regarding the latitude of the North Pacific trough, the early winter polar stratospheric response, surface temperature and precipitation over North America, and globally averaged surface temperature. These differences are generally consistent with, though smaller than, those noted in previous studies.     

Precipitation Structures of a Thermal Convective System Happened in the Central Western Subtropical Pacific Anticyclone

In this paper, characteristics of precipitating clouds in a thermal convective system (TCS) occurred in the southeastern mainland of China at 15:00 BT (Beijing time) on August 2, 2003 in the central western subtropical Pacific anticyclone (WSPA) is studied by using TRMM tropical rainfallmeasuring mission PR (precipitution radar) and IR Infrared radiation measurements. The precipitating cloud structures in both horizontal and vertical, relationship among storm top, cloud top, and surface rain rate are particularly analyzed. Results show that a strong ascending air at 500 hPa and a strong convergence of moisture flux at 850 hPa in the central WSPA supply necessary conditions both in dynamics and moisture for the happening of the TCS precipitation. The TRMM PR observation shows that the horizontal scale of the most TCS precipitating clouds is about 30-40 km, their averaged vertical scale is above 10 km, and the maximum reaches 17.5 km. The maximum rain rate near surface of those TCS clouds is beyond 50 mm h-1. The mean rain profile of the TCS clouds shows that its maximum rain rate at 5 km altitude is 1 km lower than the estimated freezing level of the environment. Compared with the mesoscale convective system (MCS) of "98.7.20", both systems have the same altitude of the maximum rain rate displayed from both mean rain profiles, but the TCS is much deeper than the MCS. From the altitude of the maximum rain rate to near surface, profiles show that rain rate reducing in the TCS is faster than that in the MCS, which implies a strong droplet evaporation process occurring in the TCS. Relationship among cloud top, storm top, and surface rain rate analysis indicates a large variation of cloud top when storm top is lower. On the contrary, the higher the storm top, the more consistent both cloud top and storm top. And, the larger the surface rain rate, the higher and more consistent for both cloud top and storm top. At the end, results expose that area fractions of non-precipitating clouds and clear sky are 86% and 2%, respectively. The area fraction of precipitating clouds is only about 1/8 that of non-precipitating clouds.     

Modeling and Diagnostic Studies on the Variations of the Subtropical High over the Western Pacific from 1880 to 1999

Index series of Subtropical High over the western Pacific was extended to AD 1880 by using of statistical and modeling method.Reconstructed indices by both methods show good accordance each other.Association of the indices to the rainfall patterns over eastern China indicated the robustness of the reconstructions.     

Numerical Simulation of the Relationship between the Anomaly of Subtropical High over East Asia and the Convective Activities in the Western Tropical Pacific

In this paper, a close relationship between the intraseasonal variation of subtropical high over East Asia and the convective activities around the South China Sea and the Philippines is analysed from OLR data.This relationship is studied by using the theory of wave propagating in a slowly varying medium and by using a quasi-geoslrophic, linear, spherical model and the IAP-GCM, respectively. The results show that when the SST is warming around the western tropical Pacific or the Philippines, the convective activities are intensified around the Philippines. As a consequence, the subtropical high will be intensified over East Asia. The computed results also show that when the anomaly of convective activities are caused around the Philippines, a teleconnection pattern of circulation anomalies will be caused over South Asia, East Asia and North America.     

El Niño–Southern Oscillation diversity and Southern Africa teleconnections during Austral Summer

Climate Dynamics - A wide range of sea surface temperature (SST) expressions have been observed during the El Niño–Southern Oscillation events of 1950–2010, which have occurred...