Authors: MiKyung Sung BaekMin Kim SoonIl An
Publish Date: 2013/01/12
Volume: 42, Issue: 1-2, Pages: 159-170
Abstract
The two types of El Niño that have been identified namely the eastern Pacific EP and central Pacific CP El Niños are known to exert different climatic impacts on the North Atlantic region during winter Here we investigate the characteristics of the teleconnection of the two El Niño types with a focus on the stratospheretroposphere coupling During the EP El Niño polar stratospheric warming and polar vortex weakening frequently occur with a strong tendency for downward propagation near the tropopause Consequently the atmospheric pattern within the troposphere over the North Atlantic sector during midwinter closely resembles the negative North Atlantic Oscillation pattern In contrast during CP El Niño events stratospheric warming events exhibit a much weaker downward propagation tendency This difference in the stratospheric circulation response arises from the different seasonal evolution of the tropospheric wave response to the two El Niño types For the EP El Niño the Aleutian Low begins growing during December and is sustained throughout the entire winter December to February which provides favorable conditions for the continuous downward propagation of the stratospheric warming We also discuss the origin of the difference in the teleconnections from the two types of El Niño associated with the distinct longitudinal position of the warm SST anomaly that determines tropospherestratosphere coupling
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