The Relationship between Snow Accumulation at Mt. Logan, Yukon, Canada, and Climate Variability in the North Pacific

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Abstract An ice core from Mt. Logan, Yukon, Canada, presents an opportunity to evaluate the degree to which ice core accumulation records can be interpreted as meaningful measures of interannual climate variability. Statistical analyses and comparisons with synoptic station data are used to identify the physical relationships between Mt. Logan ice core accumulation data and large-scale atmospheric circulation. These analyses demonstrate that only the winters of high accumulation years have a robust connection with atmospheric circulation. There are no consistent relationships during anomalously low and average accumulation years. The wintertime of high accumulation years is associated with an enhanced trough–ridge structure at 500 hPa and in sea level pressure over the northeast Pacific and western Canada, consistent with increased southerly flow bringing in warmer, moister air to the region. While both storm (i.e., 2–6 days) and blocking (i.e., 15–20 days) events project onto the same climate pattern, only the big storm events give rise to the dynamical moisture convergence necessary for anomalous accumulation. Taken together, these results suggest that while the Mt. Logan accumulation record is not a simple record of Pacific climate variability, anomalously high accumulation years are a reliable indicator of wintertime circulation and, in particular, of northeast Pacific storms.