Interannual and Interdecadal Variations of the Mid-Atlantic Trough and Associated American-Atlantic-Eurasian Climate Anomalies

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe mid-Atlantic trough (MAT) is one of the most prominent circulation systems over the subtropical North Atlantic during the boreal summer, and it can be viewed as a bridge linking the climate in the American-Atlantic-Eurasian region. The upper-tropospheric MAT attains its maximum intensity of 200–150 hPa in June and July. An index measuring the variability of MAT intensity is defined, which reveals significant interannual and interdecadal variations of the trough.On interannual time scales, the variation of MAT is significantly associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation, a southeastward propagating stationary wave that possibly originates from the northeastern Pacific, and the Atlantic Meridional Mode. A stronger trough is associated with warmer surface temperatures and higher pressure over central-northern North America and the extratropical North Atlantic and with colder surface temperatures and lower pressure over the Arctic, the subtropical North Atlantic, and the northeastern Pacific. In the meantime, significant negative precipitation anomalies occur over the north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, as well as the northeastern Atlantic because of the anomalous low-level northeasterly winds over these areas. On an interdecadal time scale, the variation of MAT seems to be related to the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation. Warmer surface temperatures appear over almost the entire North Atlantic, southern Europe, East Asia, and the North Pacific during the weak phase of the trough. A weak trough is also associated with the dipole pattern of anomalous precipitation over the extratropical North Atlantic, Greenland, and northeastern North America, corresponding to a dipole of low-level atmospheric circulation over these regions.