Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Variations of Teleconnection of ENSO and Interannual Variation in Summer Rainfall in the Central United States

Qi Hu Climate and Bio-Atmospheric Sciences Group, School of Natural Resource Sciences, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

Search for other papers by Qi Hu in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
and
Song Feng Climate and Bio-Atmospheric Sciences Group, School of Natural Resource Sciences, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska

Search for other papers by Song Feng in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
Print Publication:
01 Jun 2001
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014<2469:VOTOEA>2.0.CO;2
Page(s):
2469–2480
Restricted access

Abstract

Summer rainfall in the central United States has singular interannual variations of a 3–6-yr period. Identifying the causes of these variations assures improvement in predictions of summer rainfall in the region.

A review of previous studies revealed a puzzling situation: the outstanding interannual variations of the summer rainfall in the central United States showed no persistent correlations with known influential interannual variations in the Northern Hemisphere and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This study was undertaken to identify the cause of this situation and ultimately explain the causes of the observed interannual summer rainfall variations. Its results showed a teleconnection of the ENSO with the summer rainfall in the central United States. The intensity of which has varied over the last 125 years. The teleconnection was active in two epochs, 1871–1916 and 1948–78, and absent in the two epochs 1917–47 and 1979–present. This variation was associated with a multidecadal variation in both sea surface temperature and sea level pressure in the mid- and high-latitude North Pacific. In the epochs of active teleconnection, the circulation in the warm phase of ENSO favored a deformation field in the lower troposphere in the central United States causing wet summers and a reversed circulation in cold phase of ENSO yielding dry summers, a process that partially explains the interannual summer rainfall variations.

The result also showed that the variations of the teleconnection were “in phase” with the variation in the average surface temperature of the Northern Hemisphere. When the “abrupt warming” of the surface temperature developed in 1917–47 and the most recent two decades, the teleconnection broke down. Because of the limitation in data record length, this observed relationship and the persistence of the variation in the teleconnection need further investigations when additional data are available.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Qi Hu, School of Natural Resource Sciences, 237 L.W. Chase Hall, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0728. Email: qhu2@unl.edu

Abstract

Summer rainfall in the central United States has singular interannual variations of a 3–6-yr period. Identifying the causes of these variations assures improvement in predictions of summer rainfall in the region.

A review of previous studies revealed a puzzling situation: the outstanding interannual variations of the summer rainfall in the central United States showed no persistent correlations with known influential interannual variations in the Northern Hemisphere and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This study was undertaken to identify the cause of this situation and ultimately explain the causes of the observed interannual summer rainfall variations. Its results showed a teleconnection of the ENSO with the summer rainfall in the central United States. The intensity of which has varied over the last 125 years. The teleconnection was active in two epochs, 1871–1916 and 1948–78, and absent in the two epochs 1917–47 and 1979–present. This variation was associated with a multidecadal variation in both sea surface temperature and sea level pressure in the mid- and high-latitude North Pacific. In the epochs of active teleconnection, the circulation in the warm phase of ENSO favored a deformation field in the lower troposphere in the central United States causing wet summers and a reversed circulation in cold phase of ENSO yielding dry summers, a process that partially explains the interannual summer rainfall variations.

The result also showed that the variations of the teleconnection were “in phase” with the variation in the average surface temperature of the Northern Hemisphere. When the “abrupt warming” of the surface temperature developed in 1917–47 and the most recent two decades, the teleconnection broke down. Because of the limitation in data record length, this observed relationship and the persistence of the variation in the teleconnection need further investigations when additional data are available.

Corresponding author address: Dr. Qi Hu, School of Natural Resource Sciences, 237 L.W. Chase Hall, University of Nebraska—Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583-0728. Email: qhu2@unl.edu

Save
Cover Journal of Climate
Journal of Climate

  • Bell, G. D., and J. E. Janowiak, 1995: Atmospheric circulation associated with the Midwest floods in 1993. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 76 , 681–695.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Brown, R. D., and B. E. Goodison, 1996: Interannual variability in reconstructed Canadian snow cover, 1915–1992. J. Climate, 9 , 1299–1318.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Brubaker, K. L., D. Entekhabi, and P. S. Eagleson, 1993: Estimation of continental precipitation recycling. J. Climate, 6 , 1077–1089.

  • Bunkers, M. J., J. R. Miller Jr., and A. T. DeGaetano, 1996: An examination of El Niño–La Niña-related precipitation and temperature anomalies across the northern plains. J. Climate, 9 , 147–160.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Carleton, A. M., D. A. Carpenter, and P. J. Weser, 1990: Mechanisms of interannual variability of the southwest United States summer rainfall maximum. J. Climate, 3 , 999–1015.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Cayan, D. R., K. T. Redmond, and L. G. Riddle, 1999: ENSO and hydrologic extremes in the western United States. J. Climate, 12 , 2881–2893.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Cole, J. E., and E. R. Cook, 1998: The changing relationship between ENSO variability and moisture balance in the continental United States. Geophys. Res. Lett., 25 , 4529–4532.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dai, A., I. Y. Fung, and A. D. Del Genio, 1997: Surface observed global precipitation variations during 1900–88. J. Climate, 10 , 2943–2962.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • ——, Trenberth, K. E., and T. R. Karl, 1998: Global variations in drought and wet spells: 1900–1995. Geophys. Res. Lett., 25 , 3367–3370.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gershunov, A., and T. P. Barnett, 1998: Interdecadal modulation of ENSO teleconnections. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 79 , 2715–2725.

  • ——, ——, and Cayan, D. R., 1999: North Pacific interdecadal oscillation seen as factor in ENSO-related North American climate anomalies. EOS, Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union,80, 25, 29, 30.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ghil, M., and R. Vautard, 1991: Interdecadal oscillations and the warming trend in global temperature time series. Nature, 350 , 324–327.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Harrington, J. A,Jr, R. S. Cerveny, and R. Balling Jr., 1992: Impact of the Southern Oscillation on the North American southwest monsoon. Phys. Geogr., 13 , 318–330.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Haston, L., and J. Michaelsen, 1994: Long-term central coastal California precipitation variability and relationships to El Niño–Southern Oscillation. J. Climate, 7 , 1373–1387.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Helfand, H. M., and S. D. Schubert, 1995: Climatology of the simulated Great Plains low-level jet and its contribution to the continental moisture budget of the United States. J. Climate, 8 , 784–806.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hereford, R., and R. Webb, 1992: Historical variations of warm season rainfall, southern Colorado Plateau, southwestern U.S.A. Climatic Change, 22 , 239–256.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Higgins, R. W., Y. Yao., and X. Wang, 1997: Influence of the North American monsoon system on the U.S. summer precipitation regime. J. Climate, 10 , 2600–2622.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • ——, Mo, K. C., and Y. Yao, 1998: Interannual variability of the U.S. summer precipitation regime with emphasis on the southwestern monsoon. J. Climate, 11 , 2582–2606.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hu, Q., C. M. Woodruff, and S. E. Mudrick, 1998: Interdecadal variations of annual precipitation in the central United States. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 79 , 221–229.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • ——, Lee, J., and C. Hays, 2000: Interannual of variations of summer seasons precipitation and temperature in the central United States. Preprints, 11th Symp. on Global Climate Change, Long Beach, CA., Amer. Meteor. Soc., 176–179.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hurrell, J. W., and K. E. Trenberth, 1999: Global sea surface temperature analyses: multiple problems and their implications for climate analysis, modeling, and reanalysis. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 80 , 2661–2678.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kalnay, E., and Coauthors, 1996: The NCEP/NCAR 40-Year Reanalysis Project. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77 , 437–471.

  • Kumar, K. K., B. Rajagopalan, and M. A. Cane, 1999: On the weakening relationship between the India monsoon and ENSO. Science, 284 , 2156–2159.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • ——, ——, Reinke, B. C., and R. W. Arritt, 1996: The July 1995 heat wave in the Midwest: A climatic perspective and critical weather factors. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 77 , 1507–1518.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kunkel, K. E., S. A. Changnon, and J. R. Angel, 1994: Climatic aspects of the 1993 Upper Mississippi River basin flood. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 75 , 811–822.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Latif, M., and T. P. Barnett, 1996: Decadal climate variability over the North Pacific and North America: Dynamics and predictability. J. Climate, 9 , 2407–2423.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Mo, K., J. Nogues-Paegle, and J. Paegle, 1995: Physical mechanisms of the 1993 floods. J. Atmos., Sci., 52 , 879–895.

  • ——, ——, and Higgins, R. W., 1997: Atmospheric process associated with summer floods and droughts in the central United States. J. Climate, 10 , 3028–3046.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Namias, J., 1983: Some causes of United States drought. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 22 , 30–39.

  • ——,. 1991: Spring and summer 1988 drought over the contiguous United States—causes and prediction. J. Climate, 4 , 54–65.

  • National Research Council, 1998: Decadal-to-century-scale climate variability and change: A science strategy. National Academy Press, 77 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Paegle, J., K. C. Mo, and J. Nogues Paegle, 1996: Dependence of simulated precipitation on surface evaporation during the 1993 United States summer floods. Mon. Wea. Rev., 124 , 345–361.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Parker, D. E., M. Jackson, and E. B. Horton, 1995: The GISST2.2 Sea Surface Temperature and Sea-Ice Climatology. Climate Research Tech. Note 63 (CRTN63), Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, The Met Office, 16 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Rayner, N. A., E. B. Horton, D. E. Parker, C. K. Folland, and R. B. Hackett, 1996: Version 2.2 of the Global Sea-Ice and Sea Surface Temperature data set, 1903–1994. Climate Research Tech. Note 74 (CRTN74), Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, The Met Office, 21 pp.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ropelewski, C. F., and M. S. Halpert, 1986: North American precipitation and temperature patterns associated with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Mon. Wea. Rev., 114 , 2352–2362.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Roswintiarti, O., D. S. Niyogi, and S. Raman, 1998: Teleconnections between tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies and North Carolina precipitation anomalies during El Niño events. Geophys. Res. Lett., 25 , 4201–4204.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Tang, M., and E. R. Reiter, 1984: Plateau monsoons of the Northern Hemisphere: A comparison between North America and Tibet. Mon. Wea. Rev., 112 , 617–637.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ting, M., and H. Wang, 1997: Summertime U.S. precipitation variability and its relation to Pacific sea surface temperature. J. Climate, 10 , 1853–1873.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Trenberth, K. E., and D. A. Paolino, 1980: The Northern Hemisphere sea-level pressure dataset: Trends, errors, and discontinuities. Mon. Wea. Rev., 108 , 855–872.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • ——, and Shea, D. J., 1987: On the evolution of the Southern Oscillation. Mon. Wea. Rev., 115 , 3078–3096.

  • ——, and Guillemot, V. J., 1996: Physical processes in 1988 drought and 1993 floods in North America. J. Climate, 9 , 1288–1298.

  • Zhang, Y., J. M. Wallace, and D. S. Battisti, 1997: ENSO-like interdecadal variability: 1900–93. J. Climate, 10 , 1004–1020.

All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 0 0 0
Full Text Views 789 398 89
PDF Downloads 214 48 3