Interannual variations of the dominant modes of East Asian winter monsoon and possible links to Arctic sea ice

Abstract

Two dominant modes of the winter temperature over East Asia, a northern mode and a southern mode, and their links with Arctic climate conditions are analyzed. The relationships of the two modes with Arctic sea ice are different. The northern mode is closely linked to variations in sea ice of the Arctic Barents–Laptev Sea in previous autumn and most of the Arctic in concurrent winter. The southern mode seems independent from the Arctic sea ice variations, but is associated with sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the equatorial central-eastern Pacific. Results suggest an effect of Arctic sea ice variation on the northern mode and an influence of tropical SST anomalies on the southern mode. Reduced sea ice over the Arctic increases 1000–500-hPa thickness over the high-latitudes of Eurasian continent, which reduces the meridional thickness gradient between the middle and high latitudes and thus weakens the extratropical upper-level zonal wind. The weakened zonal wind provides a favorable dynamic condition for the development of a high-latitude ridge around the Ural Mountain. Reduced Arctic sea ice also tends to enhance the Siberian high through both thermodynamic and dynamic processes. The above atmospheric circulation patterns provide a favorable condition for the intrusion of cold air to northern East Asia.