Quasi‐quadrennial variability in European precipitation

• Published in: International Journal of Climatology
• Main Authors: Álvarez‐García, Francisco J., Lorente‐Lorente, Pilar M., OrtizBevia, María J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2011
• Subjects: Barents Sea; Pacific; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.2351; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjoc.2351; https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.2351

Abstract The variability of seasonal precipitation anomalies over Europe displays significant spectral peaks at quasi‐quadrennial periods, appearing in power spectra of the two leading principal components of the field. Band‐pass filtering of these time series reveals the presence of two different signals within the quadrennial band, each associated to distinct precipitation, sea level pressure (SLP) and sea surface temperature (SST) patterns, obtained here by means of linear regression and composite analysis. One of the quadrennial components seems to be connected with the impact of El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) over Europe, that leads to anomalous SLP over the North Sea, southwestern Scandinavia and central Europe, along with precipitation anomalies of the same sign in a wide band extending from the British Isles into eastern Europe, fringed by anomalies of the opposite sign along the Norwegian coast and in the western Mediterranean area. The other quadrennial component bears no correlation with the Tropical Pacific SST anomalies, and seems connected with SST anomalies in the equatorial Atlantic, and in the Mediterranean, North and Norwegian Seas. The precipitation anomalies feature a contrast between the northern and southern regions of Europe akin to that associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The SLP pattern resembles the NAO structure, but with a marked eastward shift of its two centres of action towards central Europe and the Barents Sea, respectively. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society