Strengthening gradients in the tropical west Pacific connect to European summer temperatures on sub-seasonal timescales

Abstract

Abstract. Recent work has shown that (sub-)seasonal variability in tropical Pacific convection, closely linked to ENSO, relates to summertime circulation over the Euro-Atlantic. The teleconnection is non-stationary, probably due to long-term changes in both the tropical Pacific and extra-tropical Atlantic. It also appears imperfectly captured by numerical models. In a previous study we found that the best predictor of errors in sub-seasonal forecasts of European temperature, is a dipole in tropical west Pacific sea surface temperatures (SSTs). In this diagnostic study we use reanalysis data to further investigate the teleconnection pathway and the processes behind its non-stationarity. We show that SST gradients associated with the dipole represent a combination of ENSO variability and west Pacific warming, and have become stronger since 1980. Associated patterns of suppressed and enhanced tropical heating are followed by quasi-stationary waves that linger for multiple weeks. Situations with La Niña-like gradients are followed by high pressure centers over eastern Europe and Russia, three to six weeks later. Inverted situations are followed by high pressure over western Europe, three to six weeks later. The latter situation is however also conditional on a strong meridional tripole in north Atlantic SST and a co-located jet stream. Overall, the sub-seasonal pathway diagnosed in this study connects to patterns detected at seasonal scales, and confirms earlier findings that the summertime connectivity between the Pacific and Europe has shifted in recent decades. It also partly explains the increased occurrence of high sea level pressures and summer temperatures over the European continent.