Long-lived cold blobs in the Northeast Pacific linked with the tropical La Niña

Tang, Cong; Shi, Jian; Li, Chun

doi:10.1007/s00382-021-05706-y

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Motivated by the above discussion, we investigate the strong, persistent 2019-2020 case and compare it with historical events to further illuminate the seasonal characteristics and physical mechanisms of the MHWs in the NE Pacific. Furthermore, the potential relationship between this MHW and ENSO is investigated to validate the previous findings of Chen et al (2021) and Tang et al (2021).…”

mentioning

confidence: 75%

“…In detail, a NE Pacific MHW may trigger the development of El Niño in the tropical Pacific and vice versa contribute to the multi-year longevity of MHWs at midlatitudes (Chen et al, 2021;Di Lorenzo & Mantua, 2016;Tseng et al, 2017). Similarly, the cold conditions in the NE Pacific are closely associated with La Niña (Tang et al, 2021). The robustness of such relationship should be verified due to the limited cases in record.…”

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confidence: 97%

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A Persistent and Intense Marine Heatwave in the Northeast Pacific During 2019–2020

Chen

Shi

Liu

et al. 2021

Geophysical Research Letters

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Motivated by increasing marine heatwaves (MHWs) and their dramatic climate effects, we analyze the persistent 2019–2020 MHW, which showed significant positive sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the Northeast Pacific. Four SST peaks were identified during its evolution, which appeared in November 2019, April, July, and November 2020. Positive temperature anomalies were mostly located within the mixed layer for the first‐year winter peak. However, the warm core was centered around 50 m below (at the bottom of) the mixed layer for the summer (second‐year winter) peak. The dominant factor for the two wintertime peaks was a surface heat flux anomaly, with reduction in evaporative cooling due to the easterly anomaly. The heat flux and potentially the vertical entrainment combined to induce the peak in spring. In the tropical Pacific, a La Niña event occurred following this MHW, while other recorded double‐peak events were associated with El Niño or neutral conditions.

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confidence: 75%

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confidence: 97%

A Persistent and Intense Marine Heatwave in the Northeast Pacific During 2019–2020

Chen

Shi

Liu

et al. 2021

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…Term III represents the nonlinear interaction between Q ' and h '. In practice, most studies only focused on the role of Q ' in the temperature variation or specifically the evolution of warm blobs (Dong et al., 2007; Chen, Shi, & Li, 2021; Chen, Shi, Liu, et al., 2021; Tang et al., 2021). However, to quantify the contribution of MLD fluctuations on the warm blobs, term II should be calculated and compared to term I.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2021), T21 (green) for Tang et al. (2021), D16 (magenta) for Di Lorenzo and Mantua (2016), J17 (red) for Joh and Di Lorenzo (2017), and Z19 (purple) for Zhi et al. (2019).…”

Section: Locating An Area With More Frequent Warm Blobs Over the Nepmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Mixed Layer Depth in the Location and Development of the Northeast Pacific Warm Blobs

Shi

Tang

Liu

et al. 2022

Geophysical Research Letters

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Warm blobs are persistent warm anomalies in the Northeast Pacific (NEP) upper ocean. Here, we assess the role of mixed layer depth (MLD) in their location and development based on ocean‐atmosphere reanalysis data. We find that warm blobs occur more frequently over 165°–130°W and 35°–50°N with shallow MLD. They are largely confined to the mixed layer, although substantial portions exist beneath it in summer when the MLD shoals. Based on a mixed‐layer heat budget analysis, we reveal that anomalous MLD and heat flux contribute dominantly to the surface heat flux term over the study area from May to July and from September to March, respectively, and have a large effect on warm blob development. Therefore, the MLD has important implications for the location and seasonal evolution of warm blobs and temperature diagnosis over the NEP.

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“…Vertical processes at the base of the mixed layer were found responsible for these cooling events mostly when the thermocline was shallow, whereas atmosphere heat fluxes dominated the events when the thermocline was deep (Vinayachandran and Saji, 2008). Similarly, cold blob events in the Northeast Pacific have been attributed to vertical entrainment processes when their peak occurs during the summer, where the mixed layer depth is shallower, whereas atmosphere heat fluxes and winds appear to dominate cold events whose peak occurs during the winter (Tang et al, 2021).…”

Section: Ocean Atmosphere and Climate Drivers Of Mcssmentioning

confidence: 98%