Influence of the Western Pacific teleconnection pattern on Western North Pacific tropical cyclone activity

Abstract

This study analyzes the characteristics of Western North Pacific (WNP) tropical cyclone (TC) activity and large-scale environments according to the Western Pacific (WP) teleconnection pattern in summer. In the positive WP phase, an anomalous cyclone and an anomalous anticyclone develop in the low and middle latitudes of the East Asia area, respectively. As a result, southeasterlies are reinforced in the northeast area of East Asia (including Korea and Japan), which facilitates the movement of TC to this area, whereas northwesterlies are reinforced in the southwest area of East Asia (including southern China and the Indochina Peninsula) which blocks the movement of TC to that area. Due to the spatial distribution of this reinforced pressure system, TCs that develop during the positive WP phase move and turn more to the northeast of the WNP than TCs which develop during the negative WP phase.The characteristics of this TC activity during the positive WP phase are associated with the upper tropospheric jet being located farther to the northeast. TCs during the negative WP phase mainly move to the west from the Philippines toward southern China and the Indochina Peninsula. Due to the terrain effect caused by the passage of TCs in mainland China, the intensity of TCs during the negative WP phase is weaker than those during the positive WP phase.