An Isentropic Mass Circulation View on the Extreme Cold Events in the 2020/21 Winter

Yu, Yueyue; Li, Yafei; Ren, Rongcai; Cai, Ming; Guan, Zhaoyong; Huang, Wei

doi:10.1007/s00376-021-1289-2

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…La Niña is characterized by colder than average sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, with typical amplitudes of 1-4°C. A La Niña started to develop in the austral spring of 2020, and persisted throughout the 2020/2021 austral summer season (Yu et al, 2022). As noted by Yuan (2004) and Simpkins et al (2012), an anomalous low pressure generally develops over the Bellinghausen/Amundsen Sea during La Niña events in response to a wave train from lower latitudes which is triggered by changes in tropical SSTs and hence convection.…”

Section: The Large-scale Atmospheric Environmentmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…The monthly mean sea‐level pressure anomalies (Figure 2a) show a region of low pressure centered over the Bellinghausen/Amundsen Sea, where the pressure is lower than the 1979–2020 climatological mean by more than 1 standard deviation. This feature is a response to the La Niña that was present at the time (Yu et al., 2022). La Niña is the cold phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO; Rasmusson & Carpenter, 1982), which is a pattern of variability of the climate system with periods of 3–7 years with decadal variations.…”

Section: The Large‐scale Atmospheric Environmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…(2015) in response to a central Pacific La Niña event, where the colder than average SST anomalies are restricted to the central equatorial Pacific (Ashok & Yamagata, 2009). The authors found that the tropical Pacific to South Atlantic teleconnection via a wave train that extends across South America is absent in ENSO events, which is the case for the 2020/2021 La Niña (Yu et al., 2022).…”

Section: The Large‐scale Atmospheric Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…La Niña is characterized by colder than average sea‐surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, with typical amplitudes of 1–4°C. A La Niña started to develop in the austral spring of 2020, and persisted throughout the 2020/2021 austral summer season (Yu et al., 2022). As noted by Yuan (2004) and Simpkins et al.…”

Section: The Large‐scale Atmospheric Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atmospheric Triggers of the Brunt Ice Shelf Calving in February 2021

et al. 2022

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The calving of Antarctic ice shelves remains unpredictable to date due to a lack of understanding of the role of the different climatic components in such events. In this study, the role of atmospheric forcing in the calving of the Brunt Ice Shelf (BIS) in February 2021 is investigated using a combination of observational and reanalysis data. The occurrence of a series of extreme cyclones around the time of the calving induced an oceanward sea‐surface slope of >0.08° leading to the calving along a pre‐existing rift. The severe storms were sustained by the development of a pressure dipole on both sides of the BIS associated with a La Niña event and the positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode. Poleward advection of warm and moist low‐latitude air over the BIS area just before the calving was also observed in association with atmospheric rivers accompanying the cyclones. Immediately after the calving, strong offshore winds continued and promoted the drift of the iceberg A‐74 in the Weddell Sea at a speed up to 700 m day−1. This study highlights the contribution of local atmospheric conditions to ice‐shelf dynamics. The link to the larger scale circulation patterns indicates that both need to be accounted for in the projections of Antarctic ice shelf evolution.

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Section: The Large-scale Atmospheric Environmentmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: The Large‐scale Atmospheric Environmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: The Large‐scale Atmospheric Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Large‐scale Atmospheric Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atmospheric Triggers of the Brunt Ice Shelf Calving in February 2021

et al. 2022

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“…Specifically, the signals of a weaker stratospheric polar vortex (e.g., stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) events), a negative phase of the stratospheric Northern Hemisphere Annular Mode (NAM), and a weakening of the polar jet can propagate downwards to the lower troposphere to favor a negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and abnormally cold temperatures over a wide area of the continental mid‐latitudes during the 1–2 months following their occurrence (Baldwin & Dunkerton, 2001; Cai, 2003; Kolstad et al., 2010; Polvani & Waugh, 2004; Thompson & Wallace, 2001; Thompson et al., 2002; P. Zhang et al., 2020). Recent studies (Cohen et al., 2021; Davis et al., 2022; Kretschmer et al., 2018; Rupp et al., 2022; Yu et al., 2022) demonstrated that the planetary wave reflection off a stretched polar vortex can also precede CAOs in North America. The stratospheric response to sea ice forcing is also crucial in the development of cold conditions over Siberia and North America (P. Zhang et al., 2018, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Precursory Signals in the Stratospheric Meridional Mass Circulation for Mid‐Latitude Cold Air Outbreak Events of High and Low Sub‐Seasonal Predictability

Liu

Ren

et al. 2022

JGR Atmospheres

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Cold air outbreak (CAO) events are one of the most frequent and high-impact types of extreme weather over the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere in winter. CAOs are often characterized by large negative temperature anomalies across a wide spatial extent that last for many days. They can cause school/business closures, costly road/highway repairs, agricultural losses, and higher mortality rates (Cellitti et al., 2006;C. Liu, 1990). Under the background of global warming, extreme cold events still occur frequently in the mid-latitudes (

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Has substantial sea ice loss along the Siberian coast contributed to the 2020/2021 winter cold wave in China?

Wang

Liu

Cheng

et al. 2022

Intl Journal of Climatology

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In winter 2020/2021, several episodes of cold air outbreaks have wreaked havoc across much of China, resulting in exceptionally low temperatures over northern-to-southeastern China. Our analysis shows that the anomalous circulation leading to the cold wave in China was characterized as: (a) a strengthening of the Siberian high, (b) a deepening of the East Asian trough, and (c) a weakening of the stratospheric polar vortex. Prior to the winter, in summer and autumn, the largest sea ice loss along the Siberian coast was observed. We therefore address the question whether the substantial sea ice loss has contributed to the cold wave. First, applying singular value decomposition (SVD) analysis, we find strong coherence between the autumn Arctic sea ice coverage and temperatures over the central-to-east Asian region with the sea ice component (SVD1_SIC) reaching a record high in 2020 and displaying a decadal shift around 2005. Associated with both the interannual and decadal variations of the SVD1_SIC, there are similar circulation anomalies as described in (a), (b) and (c) above. Second, applying self-organizing maps, wintertime daily air temperatures are clustered into nine nodes with Node-1 mostly resembling "warm Arctic, cold Eurasia" pattern. The frequency of Node-1 shows a similar decadal shift as observed in SVD_SIC1 above, with a correlation of about 0.56. Associated with Node-1, the circulation anomalies are consistent with features highlighted in (a), (b) and (c) above. Thus, taking all the evidence into account, we conclude that the substantial sea ice loss along the Siberian coast contributed significantly to the 2020/2021 winter cold wave in China. The mechanism behind the contribution in this study highlights that the Arctic sea ice loss is favourable for certain circulation patterns on climate timescale, reinforcing disruptive chain of reactions on weather timescale, and leading to severe cold events.

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An Isentropic Mass Circulation View on the Extreme Cold Events in the 2020/21 Winter

Cited by 27 publications

References 78 publications

Atmospheric Triggers of the Brunt Ice Shelf Calving in February 2021

Atmospheric Triggers of the Brunt Ice Shelf Calving in February 2021

Precursory Signals in the Stratospheric Meridional Mass Circulation for Mid‐Latitude Cold Air Outbreak Events of High and Low Sub‐Seasonal Predictability

Has substantial sea ice loss along the Siberian coast contributed to the 2020/2021 winter cold wave in China?

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