Summary
Analysis of the long-term variability of interseasonal correlations between various climatological data for the western United States indicates that the transient aspects of these correlations are linked to trends in Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) in the Pacific Ocean. Stratifying climatological data by the dominant modes of Pacific SST anomalies seems to enhance interseasonal correlations between various climate parameters for the western plateau area. For example, when warm SSTs occur in the equatorial eastern Pacific, summer precipitation anomalies in peripheral areas of the plateau are highly correlated with thermal and precipitation anomalies over the plateau during the prior spring. When we selectively examine portions of the data set representing extreme SST anomaly conditions, the inferred associations become systematically stronger. The observations suggest that much of the variance typically encountered in computing interseasonal correlation statistics for climatological data may be due to variable influences associated with ocean temperature anomalies in remote locations. Although no comprehensive explanation is offered for the observations, there is a general consistency with prior studies of the relationships between various SST anomalies and weather trends in western North America. With additional refinement and extended scope these results may provide the basis for improved forecasts of seasonal weather trends, both in the western United States and elsewhere.
Zusammenfassung
Die Analyse der allmählichen Veränderlichkeit der Korrelationen zwischen meteorologischen Daten aus verschiedenen Jahreszeiten zeigen über den westlichen Vereinigten Staaten, daß ein Zusammenhang zwischen diesen Änderungen und den Tendenzen in den Meeresoberflächentemperaturen, im Pazifik besteht. Wenn klimatologische Daten je nach den dominierenden Feldern der Meerestemperaturen eingeordnet werden, verbessern sich die Korrelationen, welche verschiedene Jahreszeiten überspannen. So sind zum Beispiel bei warmen Meerestemperaturanomalien im äquatorialen Ostpazifik die sommerlichen Niederschlagsanomalien in der Umgebung des Plateaus stark mit den Temperatur- und Niederschlagsanomalien über dem Plateau im vorhergehenden Frühling korreliert. Wird jene Untergruppe der Daten untersucht, welche extremen Meerestemperaturanomalien entspricht, so werden die entsprechenden Korrelationsbeziehungen noch stärker. Diese Beobachtungen deuten an, daß ein Großteil der Varianz, die für gewöhnlich in Korrelationen klimatologischer Daten zwisehen verschiedenen Jahreszeiten auftritt, auf Einflüsse von Meerestemperaturanomalien in entfernten Gebieten zurückgeführt werden kann. Obzwar keine umfassende Erklärung für diese Beobachtungstatsache angeboten wird, besteht eine allgemeine Konsistenz mit früheren Studien in den Zusammenhängen zwischen Meerestemperaturanomalien und Witterungstendenzen im westlichen Nordamerika. Verbesserte und erweiterte Studien dieser Art können die Basis für die Langfristprognose jahreszeitlicher Witterungstendenzen in den Vereinigten Staaten und anderswo bilden.
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Sheaffer, J.D., Reiter, E.R. Influence of Pacific Sea surface temperatures on seasonal precipitation over the western plateau of the United States. Arch. Met. Geoph. Biocl. A. 34, 111–130 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02267398
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02267398