The remarkable 2003–2004 winter and other recent warm winters in the Arctic stratosphere since the late 1990s

Abstract

The 2003–2004 Arctic winter was remarkable in the ∼50‐year record of meteorological analyses. A major warming beginning in early January 2004 led to nearly 2 months of vortex disruption with high‐latitude easterlies in the middle to lower stratosphere. The upper stratospheric vortex broke up in late December, but began to recover by early January, and in February and March was the strongest since regular observations began in 1979. The lower stratospheric vortex broke up in late January. Comparison with 2 previous years, 1984–1985 and 1986–1987, with prolonged midwinter warming periods shows unique characteristics of the 2003–2004 warming period: The length of the vortex disruption, the strong and rapid recovery in the upper stratosphere, and the slow progression of the warming from upper to lower stratosphere. January 2004 zonal mean winds in the middle and lower stratosphere were over 2 standard deviations below average. Examination of past variability shows that the recent frequency of major stratospheric warmings (7 in the past 6 years) is unprecedented. Lower stratospheric temperatures were unusually high during 6 of the past 7 years, with 5 having much lower than usual potential for polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) formation and ozone loss (nearly none in 1998–1999, 2001–2002, and 2003–2004, and very little in 1997–1998 and 2000–2001). Middle and upper stratospheric temperatures, however, were unusually low during and after February. The pattern of 5 of the last 7 years with very low PSC potential would be expected to occur randomly once every ∼850 years. This cluster of warm winters, immediately following a period of unusually cold winters, may have important implications for possible changes in interannual variability and for determination and attribution of trends in stratospheric temperatures and ozone.