Intensified influence of the ENSO Modoki on boreal summer tropical cyclone genesis over the western North Pacific since the early 1990s

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study presents the inter‐decadal intensified impact of the ENSO Modoki (ENM) on tropical cyclone (TC) genesis over the western North Pacific (WNP) since the early 1990s. We find that this intensified impact may be largely attributed to the inter‐decadal change of the spatio‐temporal variability of the ENM, which includes an increasing period and expansive sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly over the central Pacific after the early 1990s. Because of the inter‐decadal change of the ENM, especially the expansive SST pattern, the response of large‐scale atmospheric circulation was enhanced and had expanded northwards and westwards since the early 1990s, which has led to significant TC genesis anomalies over a large fraction of the WNP. The spatial changes of the ENM may possibly be modulated by the inter‐decadal SST change over the Pacific.