Wintertime temperature anomalies in Alaska correlated with ENSO and PDO

Abstract

On the sub-monthly timescale, temperatures across Alaska are to the first order correlated with the alternating zonal to meridional Pacific/North American pattern. Analysis of daily winter temperatures at Fairbanks indicates that cold anomalies are more frequent and are longer in duration than warm anomalies, primarily due to radiational cooling of the boundary layer and the subsequent formation of deep temperature inversions. The development of strong inversions over the interior of Alaska limits the response of temperatures to changes in the synoptic-scale flow pattern. Warm anomalies in contrast to cold anomalies, are primarily a function of warm air advection, therefore temperatures during warm anomalies fluctuate in phase with changes in the synoptic-scale flow. Ultimately, air temperatures across Alaska are a function of: synoptic-scale forcings, radiative cooling of the boundary layer as well as local and regional effects such as downslope and drainage winds. Published in

Pacific Decadal Oscillation and the Hydroclimatology of Western Canada—Review and Prospects

“…Papineau (2001) Mantua and Hare (2002). Bonsal et al (2001) and Shabbar and Bonsal (2004) examined PDO impacts on winter ( JFM) temperature variability over Canada.…”

Influence of Basin‐ and Local‐Scale Environmental Conditions on Nearshore Production in the Northeast Pacific Ocean

“…Local-scale environmental indices included SST, SSHa, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), the Bakun upwelling index, and freshwater discharge. These environmental variables were selected because they are either used to derive (i.e., SST and SSHa) or track basin-scale conditions and are useful for predicting biological responses (Mantua et al 1997;Papineau 2001;Royer et al 2001;Neal et al 2002;Di Lorenzo et al 2008;Ainley and Hyrenbach 2010;Hickey et al 2010). The SST measures the heat near the surface of the ocean.…”

“…Basin-scale conditions could influence nearshore systems through their linkages to offshore or terrestrial systems, as basin indices correlate well with offshore sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, and upwelling (Di Lorenzo et al 2008;Ainley and Hyrenbach 2010) and with terrestrial indicators such as freshwater discharge (Royer et al 2001;Papineau 2001;Neal et al 2002;Hickey et al 2010). The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), North Pacific Gyre Oscillation (NPGO), and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) represent both decadal (e.g., PDO and NPGO) and interannual (e.g., ENSO) scales of climate variability in the northeast Pacific Ocean basin (Hollowed et al 2001) and are among the most consistent predictors of marine and terrestrial ecosystem production in the North Pacific Ocean and western United States, respectively (Neal et al 2002;Mundy 2005;Spies 2007;Black 2009;Menge et al 2009;Di Lorenzo et al 2013;Sydeman et al 2013).…”

Reconstruction of recent climate change in Alaska from the Aurora Peak ice core, central Alaska

“…Thus, periods (I, II, III) when the PDOI increased (decreased) corresponded to the periods when δD increased (decreased). Papineau (2001) reported that temperature and the PDOI were correlated in central Alaska, especially in winter. Table 3 presents the variation in air temperature recorded at 15 weather stations during periods I, II, and III, which were correlated with δD (R < 0.50, p < 0.05).…”

“…1923-1942, b 1943-1975, c 1976-2007, d excluding an exceptional value in 2004. PDO (Walter and Meier, 1989;McCabe and Fountain, 1995;Mantua et al, 1997;Papineau, 2001;Rodionov at al., 2007;Bienek at al., 2014). The Pacific Decadal Oscillation index (PDOI) was introduced by Mantua et al (1997) and is based on an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of sea-surface temperature (SST) in the North Pacific, north of 20…”