The role of Fram Strait winter cyclones on sea ice flux and on Spitsbergen air temperatures

Abstract

The link between high latitude Atlantic winter cyclone activity and both the climate of Spitsbergen and Fram Strait ice export is examined. Cyclones are more frequent over Fram Strait in relatively mild, low ice export, winters and are associated with south‐southwesterly flow around anomalous high pressure over Scandinavia. There is an increased tendency for cyclogenesis to occur off the northeast Greenland coast and East Greenland Current in those winters. Fram Strait cyclones then typically continue into the western Arctic basin north of Greenland and Canada. Anomalously cold/high ice export winters have higher cyclone activity in the Barents Sea and Eurasia side of the Arctic basin. Cyclones in mild winters have close proximity to Spitsbergen and may simultaneously advect Arctic sea ice across Fram Strait, possibly accounting for the low (under 30%) shared variance in winter time series of temperatures and sea ice export.