Abstract
Abstract The role of atmospheric circulation anomalies in generating midlatitude sea surface temperature (SST) variability is investigated by means of ocean general circulation model (OGCM) experiments, in which observed winds are prescribed during the period 1950–1979. The heat flux parameterization involves atmospheric advection equivalent to specifying an interactive atmosphere, albeit a simple one. Forced by the observed wind field, the model is successful in reproducing the large-scale patterns of the observed wintertime SST in the North Atlantic. The local correlations between observed and simulated winter-time SSTs are high enough to be significant around 40°N but are not as high in summer (when the scales of the anomalies are smaller) and north of 50°N. The model results are used to understand more about the mechanisms of creating interannual SST variability in winter. During wintertime, strong northwesterly winds from the American continent cool the northwestern pan of the ocean, and advective (E...
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