Impacts of ENSO and Indian Ocean Dipole Events on the Southern Hemisphere Storm-Track Activity during Austral Winter

Abstract

Abstract Impacts of the ENSO and Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) phenomena on winter storm-track activity over the Southern Hemisphere are examined on the basis of the observed and reanalysis data for 1979–2003. The partial correlation technique is utilized to distinguish the impact of one phenomenon from that of the other. During an El Niño event, the subtropical jet stream tends to strengthen substantially, enhancing the jet bifurcation and thereby reducing storm-track activity over the midlatitude South Pacific and to the south of Australia. During a positive IOD event, the westerlies and storm-track activity also tend to weaken over southern Australia and portions of New Zealand. Thus both the positive IOD and, to a lesser extent, El Niño events act to reduce winter rainfall significantly over some portions of South Australia and New Zealand. Precipitation over the southeastern portion of the continent and over the northern portions of the two main islands of New Zealand is more sensitive to IOD. Significant reduction in precipitation associated with an El Niño event is seen over Tasmania. Over midlatitude South America, in contrast, the enhancement of the westerlies and storm-track activity tends to be more significant in a positive IOD event than in an El Niño event. It is demonstrated that despite the dominant influence of the Southern Hemispheric Annular Mode from a hemispheric viewpoint, the remote influence of ENSO and/or IOD on local storm-track activity can be detected in winter as a significant signal in particular midlatitude regions, including South Australia and New Zealand.