Spring Arctic sea ice as an indicator of North American summer rainfall

• Published in: International Journal of Climatology
• Main Authors: Song, Mirong, Liu, Jiping, Wang, Chunyi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2011
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Greenland; Pacific; Arctic Basin; Beaufort Sea; Central Arctic; North Atlantic; Sea ice; Alaska
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.2358; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjoc.2358; https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.2358

Abstract Associations between the spring Arctic sea ice concentration (SIC) and North American summer rainfall were discussed using the singular value decomposition analysis. Results show that a reduced SIC in the North Atlantic and Pacific sectors of the Arctic, and an enhanced SIC in much of the central Arctic Basin and Beaufort Sea, are accompanied by dry conditions over the western United States, the northern Great Plains, the Midwest, westernmost Canada, and central and eastern Greenland, and wet conditions over the southern United States, Alaska, northern Canada, and western Greenland. Atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with the SIC variability show two wave‐train structures, which are persistent from spring to summer, leading to the identified relationship between the spring Arctic SIC and North American summer rainfall. This relationship indicates a potential long‐term outlook for the North American summer rainfall as the decline of the spring sea ice in the north Atlantic and Pacific sectors of the Arctic is expected to continue as climate warms. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society