On the relation between explosive cyclones affecting Europe and the North Atlantic Oscillation

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Gómara, Íñigo, Rodríguez-Fonseca, Belén, Zurita-Gotor, Pablo, Pinto, J. G.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Geophysical Union 2014
• Subjects: Extra-tropical cyclones; Explosive cyclogenesis; North Atlantic Oscillation; Jet stream; Rossby wave-breaking; Europe; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/97895; https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL059647

Intense winter cyclones often lead to hazardous weather over Europe. Previous studies have pointed to a link between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and strong European windstorms. However, the robustness of this relation for cyclones of varying intensities remains largely unexplored. In this paper, the bi-directional relation between the NAO and cyclones impacting Europe is analyzed for the period 1950-2010 focusing on the sensitivity to storm intensity. Evidence is given that explosive (EC) and non-explosive cyclones (NoEC) predominantly develop under different large-scale circulation conditions over the North Atlantic. Whereas NoEC evolve more frequently under negative and neutral NAO phases, the number of EC is larger under a positive NAO phase, typically characterized by an intensified jet toward Western Europe. Important differences are also found on the dynamics of NAO evolution after peak intensity for both cyclone populations. © 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. Peer Reviewed