Effect of wintertime low‐pressure systems on the Atlantic inflow to the Nordic seas

Abstract

The response of the Atlantic inflow to the Nordic seas to a variable wind field is investigated using storm track data and observed current meter data from the three inflowing Iceland, Faroe, and Shetland branches and from the Svinøy section off the west coast of Norway. The Atlantic inflow is found to be anomalously large in the Shetland and Svinøy sections for 4–5 days after a storm passage with maximum response after 2–3 days. No similar inflow response was found in the Iceland and Faroe sections. On the contrary, the Faroe current becomes weaker 2 days after the inflow maxima in the Shetland and Svinøy sections. We speculate that this is a lagged response to increased sea level height north of the Greenland‐Scotland Ridge. For longer timescales, most of the winter anomalies in the volume transports through the Shetland and Svinøy sections are related to cyclone variability, with the number of storms, the residence time, and the intensity of the storms being critical factors.