The Summertime Circulation Types over Eurasia and Their Connections with the North Atlantic Oscillation Modulated by North Atlantic SST

Abstract

ERA5 monthly averaged reanalysis data during 1979–2020 are used to analyze the anomalous characteristics of summertime circulation types over Eurasia and their connections with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) modulated by North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST). A circulation index (CI) is defined to describe the anomalous characteristics of summertime circulation types over the Eurasian mid-high latitude and classify the anomalous circulation into a double-ridge type (DR-type) and double-trough type (DT-type). The results show that these anomalous circulation types are closely related to the variation of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), East Asian subtropical jet (EASJ), South Asia high (SAH) and summer precipitation anomalies in China. There is a significant negative correlation between summer NAO and circulation types over Eurasia. The positive CI is favorable for the southward movement of the EASJ and two positive height anomalies over the Ural Mountains and the Sea of Okhotsk, respectively. Accompanied by moisture convergence and a strong ascending motion over the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Valley (MLYRV), the summer rainfall will be above normal. These patterns are reversed in positive NAO-index years. The connection between the NAO and circulation types over Eurasia is modulated by a tri-pole SST anomaly pattern over the North Atlantic, which may induce the NAO-like atmospheric circulation and strengthen the impacts of the NAO on Eurasian circulation types. A wave train from the North Atlantic to East Asia, which is aroused by the tri-pole SST anomaly pattern, is the potential mechanism for linking summer NAO and circulation types over Eurasia.

Keywords

• Eurasian anomalous circulation
• North Atlantic Oscillation
• North Atlantic SST anomalies
• summer precipitation in China