The relationship between monthly midtropospheric circulation variations, occurring in the North American sector, and surface temperature and precipitation across the Great Plains is evaluated for the middle month of each season (January, April, July, and October). The results demonstrate that monthly Great Plains temperature variability is strongly associated with the majorpattems of midtroposp...

We examine the advances in our understanding of extratropical atmosphere-ocean interaction over the past decade and a half, focusing on the atmospheric response to sea surface temperature anomalies. The main goal of the paper is to assess what was learned from general circulation model (GCM) experiments over the recent two decades or so. Observational evidence regarding the nature of the intera...

Relationships between the interannual variability of the U.S. summer precipitation regime and the intensification, weakening, or changes in position of the climatological-mean circulation features that organize this regime are examined. The focus is on the atmospheric conditions over the conterminous United States relative to wet and dry monsoons over the southwestern United States. The onset o...

Abstract. Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are filaments of extensive water vapor transport in the lower troposphere that play a crucial role distribution freshwater but can also cause natural and economic damage by facilitating heavy precipitation. Here, we investigate large-scale spatiotemporal synchronization patterns precipitation events (HPEs) over western coast continental regions North America (...

A synthesis of several approaches to quantifying land–atmosphere interactions is presented. These approaches use data from observations or atmospheric reanalyses applied to atmospheric tracer models and stand-alone land surface schemes. None of these approaches relies on the results of general circulation model simulations. A high degree of correlation is found among these independent approache...

The authors examine the net winter, summer, and annual mass balance of six glaciers along the northwest coast of North America, extending from Washington State to Alaska. The net winter (NWB) and net annual (NAB) mass balance anomalies for the maritime glaciers in the southern group, located in Washington and British Columbia, are shown to be positively correlated with local precipitation anoma...

The idea that global warming leads to more droughts and floods has become commonplace without clear indication of what is meant by this statement. Here, the authors examine one aspect of this problem and assess whether interannual variability of precipitation P minus evaporation E becomes stronger in the twenty-first century compared to the twentieth century, as deduced from an ensemble of mode...

Abstract Modeling evidence suggests that the Inter-decadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) can remotely affect tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) variability. However, root causes of IPO-tropical inter-basin teleconnections are not fully understood. Using idealized pacemaker experiments wherein observed IPO-SST anomalies specified, we show a warm-phase anomaly drives basin-wide SST warmi...