Sudden Stratospheric Warmings and Their Impact on Northern Hemisphere Winter Climate ...
Sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) are a key driver of winter climate variability in the Northern Hemisphere. SSWs are a disruption of the strong stratospheric westerlies over the winter pole in which the winds in the upper to middle stratosphere, from about 30 to 50 km above the surface, weaken a...
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Columbia University
2021
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| Online Access: | https://dx.doi.org/10.7916/d8-5sry-2p27 https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/d8-5sry-2p27 |
| Summary: | Sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) are a key driver of winter climate variability in the Northern Hemisphere. SSWs are a disruption of the strong stratospheric westerlies over the winter pole in which the winds in the upper to middle stratosphere, from about 30 to 50 km above the surface, weaken and reverse and the polar cap temperatures increase by up to 50 K in only a few days. These events affect tropospheric conditions for the two months following, on average shifting the North Atlantic storm track equatorward and resulting in a negative Northern Annular Mode and North Atlantic Oscillation at the surface. These changes are associated with colder and drier than average conditions in Northern Europe and Eurasia and warmer and wetter than average conditions across Southern Europe, as well as high temperatures across North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia and increased cold air outbreaks in North America and Eurasia. This thesis examines this typical surface response to SSWs in several different ... |
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