Modulating Effects of Planetary Wave 3 on a Stratospheric Sudden Warming Event in 2005

Abstract

Abstract The Eliassen–Palm flux (EPF) and Plumb’s wave activity flux (WAF) were computed, using ERA-Interim data, to analyze the influence of planetary wave 3 on a stratospheric sudden warming event from 17 February to 15 March 2005 (SSW05). It was found that 1) SSW05 consisted of three stages: a prior minor warming (MnW05), a late final warming (FW05), and a warming stagnation between MnW05 and FW05; 2) the wave 3 first decreased total upward EPFs by more than 30% at 100 hPa, resulting in the warming stagnation, and then increased upward EPFs by greater than 50%, leading to FW05; and 3) the anomalies of wave-3 activity fluxes were associated with the pattern of Atlantic blocking high in the latter two stages. The interactions between the wave 3 and wave 1 partitioned the zonal upward channel of total wave activity fluxes from one longitudinal region into two longitudinal regions and affected SSW05.