Interannual Relationship between the Winter Aleutian Low and Rainfall in the Following Summer in South China

Similar documents
The Interdecadal Variation of the Western Pacific Subtropical High as Measured by 500 hpa Eddy Geopotential Height

The Formation of Precipitation Anomaly Patterns during the Developing and Decaying Phases of ENSO

Weakening relationship between East Asian winter monsoon and ENSO after mid-1970s

The Coupled Model Predictability of the Western North Pacific Summer Monsoon with Different Leading Times

The ENSO s Effect on Eastern China Rainfall in the Following Early Summer

Respective impacts of the East Asian winter monsoon and ENSO on winter rainfall in China

Oceanic origin of the interannual and interdecadal variability of the summertime western Pacific subtropical high

Large-scale atmospheric singularities and summer long-cycle droughts-floods abrupt alternation in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River

Evaluation of the Twentieth Century Reanalysis Dataset in Describing East Asian Winter Monsoon Variability

The increase of snowfall in Northeast China after the mid 1980s

Interannual variations of early summer monsoon rainfall over South China under different PDO backgrounds

Influence of South China Sea SST and the ENSO on Winter Rainfall over South China CHAN 2,3

Decrease of light rain events in summer associated with a warming environment in China during

East-west SST contrast over the tropical oceans and the post El Niño western North Pacific summer monsoon

Modulation of PDO on the predictability of the interannual variability of early summer rainfall over south China

Interdecadal and Interannnual Variabilities of the Antarctic Oscillation Simulated by CAM3

An observational study of the impact of the North Pacific SST on the atmosphere

Long-Term Changes in Rainfall over Eastern China and Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation Associated with Recent Global Warming

Decadal Anomalies of Winter Precipitation over Southern China in Association with El Niño and La Niña

The Spring Predictability Barrier Phenomenon of ENSO Predictions Generated with the FGOALS-g Model

North Pacific Climate Overview N. Bond (UW/JISAO), J. Overland (NOAA/PMEL) Contact: Last updated: August 2009

Impact of overestimated ENSO variability in the relationship between ENSO and East Asian summer rainfall

Impact of Eurasian spring snow decrement on East Asian summer precipitation

Seasonal Prediction of Summer Temperature over Northeast China Using a Year-to-Year Incremental Approach

Influences of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation on the East Asian Summer Monsoon in non-enso years

Possible Roles of Atlantic Circulations on the Weakening Indian Monsoon Rainfall ENSO Relationship

The Decadal Shift of the Summer Climate in the Late 1980s over Eastern China and Its Possible Causes

Instability of the East Asian Summer Monsoon-ENSO Relationship in a coupled global atmosphere-ocean GCM

Monsoon Activities in China Tianjun ZHOU

East China Summer Rainfall during ENSO Decaying Years Simulated by a Regional Climate Model

Impact of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on the Asian summer monsoon

Interdecadal variability in the thermal difference between western and eastern China and its association with rainfall anomalies

Increased Tibetan Plateau Snow Depth An Indicator of the Connection between Enhanced Winter NAO and Late- Spring Tropospheric Cooling over East Asia

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Possible impact of the autumnal North Pacific SST and November AO on the East Asian winter temperature

Recent weakening of northern East Asian summer monsoon: A possible response to global warming

On the Association between Spring Arctic Sea Ice Concentration and Chinese Summer Rainfall: A Further Study

North Pacific Climate Overview N. Bond (UW/JISAO), J. Overland (NOAA/PMEL) Contact: Last updated: September 2008

Spring Heavy Rain Events in Taiwan during Warm Episodes and the Associated Large-Scale Conditions

Rainfall variability over the Indochina peninsula during the Boreal Winter, Part I: Preliminary data analysis

Decadal variability of the IOD-ENSO relationship

The East Asian winter monsoon: Re-amplification in the mid-2000s. WANG Lin* & CHEN Wen

A study of the impacts of late spring Tibetan Plateau snow cover on Chinese early autumn precipitation

The fraction of East Asian interannual climate variability explained by SST in different seasons: an estimation based on 12 CMIP5 models

Transition of the annual cycle of precipitation from double-peak mode to single-peak mode in South China

22. DO CLIMATE CHANGE AND EL NIÑO INCREASE LIKELIHOOD OF YANGTZE RIVER EXTREME RAINFALL?

Drought in Late Spring of South China in Recent Decades

Skills of yearly prediction of the early-season rainfall over southern China by the NCEP climate forecast system

Research progress of snow cover and its influence on China climate

NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE. El Niño Southern Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation Control of Climate in Puerto Rico

Analysis on the decadal scale variation of the dust storm in North China

Southern Hemisphere mean zonal wind in upper troposphere and East Asian summer monsoon circulation

Decadal Variation of the Northern Hemisphere Annular Mode and Its Influence on the East Asian Trough

Introduction of Seasonal Forecast Guidance. TCC Training Seminar on Seasonal Prediction Products November 2013

IAP Dynamical Seasonal Prediction System and its applications

P2.11 DOES THE ANTARCTIC OSCILLATION MODULATE TROPICAL CYCLONE ACTIVITY IN THE NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC

Introduction of products for Climate System Monitoring

Long-term changes in total and extreme precipitation over China and the United States and their links to oceanic atmospheric features

GPC Exeter forecast for winter Crown copyright Met Office

The North Atlantic Oscillation: Climatic Significance and Environmental Impact

Center for Monsoon System Research, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing

Medieval Warm Period, Little Ice Age, present climate, East Asian monsoon, decadal-centennial-scale variability

First-Order Draft Chapter 3 IPCC WG1 Fourth Assessment Report

Forcing of Tropical SST Anomalies by Wintertime AO-like Variability

Relationships between Extratropical Sea Level Pressure Variations and the Central- Pacific and Eastern-Pacific Types of ENSO

Different Relationships Between Spring SST in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and Summer Precipitation in China

Reprint 675. Variations of Tropical Cyclone Activity in the South China Sea. Y.K. Leung, M.C. Wu & W.L. Chang

SE Atlantic SST variability and southern African climate

Sea surface temperature east of Australia: A predictor of tropical cyclone frequency over the western North Pacific?

Climate Outlook for October 2017 March 2018

Interannual Teleconnection between Ural-Siberian Blocking and the East Asian Winter Monsoon

Anticorrelated intensity change of the quasi-biweekly and day oscillations over the South China Sea

Sensitivity of summer precipitation to tropical sea surface temperatures over East Asia in the GRIMs GMP

TREND AND VARIABILITY OF CHINA PRECIPITATION IN SPRING AND SUMMER: LINKAGE TO SEA-SURFACE TEMPERATURES

Decadal Change in the Correlation Pattern between the Tibetan Plateau Winter Snow and the East Asian Summer Precipitation during

A Quick Report on a Dynamical Downscaling Simulation over China Using the Nested Model

Interdecadal Connection between Arctic Temperature and Summer Precipitation over the Yangtze River Valley in the CMIP5 Historical Simulations

Seasonal Outlook for Winter 2014/15 over China

Why do dust storms decrease in northern China concurrently with the recent global warming?

Effect of anomalous warming in the central Pacific on the Australian monsoon

JournalofGeophysicalResearch: Atmospheres

The Atmospheric Circulation

A Preliminary Analysis of the Relationship between Precipitation Variation Trends and Altitude in China

Charles Jones ICESS University of California, Santa Barbara CA Outline

Long-Term Trend and Decadal Variability of Persistence of Daily 500-mb Geopotential Height Anomalies during Boreal Winter

Climate Outlook for December 2015 May 2016

Spatial and temporal variations of light rain events over China and the mid-high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere

Oscillating Relationship between the East Asian Winter Monsoon and ENSO

Analysis Links Pacific Decadal Variability to Drought and Streamflow in United States

The role of teleconnections in extreme (high and low) precipitation events: The case of the Mediterranean region

Delayed Response of the Extratropical Northern Atmosphere to ENSO: A Revisit *

Interdecadal Variations of the East Asian Winter Monsoon and Their Association with Quasi-Stationary Planetary Wave Activity

Introduction of climate monitoring and analysis products for one-month forecast

Seasonal dependence of the predictable low-level circulation patterns over the tropical Indo-Pacific domain

The feature of atmospheric circulation in the extremely warm winter 2006/2007

Changed Relationships Between the East Asian Summer Monsoon Circulations and the Summer Rainfall in Eastern China

ENSO, AO, and climate in Japan. 15 November 2016 Yoshinori Oikawa, Tokyo Climate Center, Japan Meteorological Agency

Influence of the Western Pacific Subtropical High on summertime ozone variability in East China

No. 20 Spring El Niño Outlook (April October 2010) 1. Contents. (a) (a) (b) (b) Tokyo Climate Center 1 No. 20 Spring 2010

A 150-year reconstructed summer Asian Pacific Oscillation index and its association with precipitation over eastern China

Transcription:

ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC SCIENCE LETTERS, 2015, VOL. 8, NO. 5, 271 276 Interannual Relationship between the Winter Aleutian Low and Rainfall in the Following Summer in South China SONG Lin-Ye 1,2 and DUAN Wan-Suo 1* 1 State Key Laboratory of Numerical Modeling for Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China 2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China Received 3 March 2015; revised 3 May 2015; accepted 4 May 2015; published 16 September 2015 Abstract Using observations and reanalysis data, this study investigates the interannual relationship between the winter Aleutian Low (AL) and the rainfall anomalies in the following summer in South China (SC). Results show that the winter AL is significantly positively (negatively) correlated with the SC rainfall anomalies in the following July (August). Specifically, SC rainfall anomalies have a tendency to be positive (negative) in July (August) when the preceding winter AL is stronger than normal. The winter AL-related atmospheric circulation anomalies in the following summer are also examined. When the winter AL is stronger, there is a significant anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation anomaly over the subtropical western North Pacific in the following July (August). Southerly (northerly) wind anomalies to the west of this anomalous anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation increase (decrease) the northward moisture transportation and contribute to the positive (negative) rainfall anomalies over SC in July (August). This study indicates that the AL in the preceding winter can be used as a potential predictor of the rainfall anomalies in the following July and August over SC. Keywords: Aleutian Low, South China, rainfall, atmospheric circulation Citation: Song, L.-Y., and W.-S. Duan, 2015: Interannual relationship between the winter Aleutian Low and rainfall in the following summer in South China, Atmos. Oceanic Sci. Lett., 8, 271 276, doi:10.3878/ AOSL20150021. 1 Introduction South China (SC), with its large population and rapid socioeconomic development, is one of the most prosperous regions in China. SC receives the bulk of its annual rainfall in the boreal summer season (e.g., Wu et al., 2012; Duan et al., 2013). The interannual and intraseasonal variations of summer rainfall in SC are very large, often bringing extreme floods and droughts that can exert significant impacts on agriculture, industry, and the daily lives of people (e.g., Huang et al., 2003). Hence, to skillfully forecast the summer rainfall in SC is of great importance for both society and economic development, urging a better understanding of the summer rainfall variability in SC, as well as its influencing factors. It has been demonstrated in previous studies that the Correspongding author: DUAN Wan-Suo, duanws@lasg.iap.ac.cn variability of summer rainfall in SC is influenced by many factors, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle (e.g., Wu et al., 2003; Wang et al., 2010), Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) (e.g., Tang et al., 2008; Wu et al., 2009; Xie et al., 2009), Eurasian or Tibetan snow cover (e.g., Wu and Kirtman, 2007), the Arctic Oscillation (e.g., Gong et al., 2011; Chen et al., 2015), the circulation anomaly over the Ural Mountains (e.g., Mao et al., 2011), the East Asian westerly jet (e.g., Liang and Wang, 1998), the western North Pacific subtropical high (e.g., Tao et al., 2001), and the East Asian summer monsoon (e.g., Yang and Lau, 2006). The Aleutian Low (AL) is the first dominant mode of North Pacific atmosphere circulation variability (e.g., Overland et al., 1999). It is characterized by a semi-permanent low pressure center located near the Aleutian Islands during boreal winter. Previous studies have demonstrated that variability of the AL is an important indicator of winter climate change around its surrounding regions (e.g., Parkinson, 1990; Trenberth and Hurrell, 1994; Niebauer et al., 1999). For instance, Trenberth and Hurrell (1994) showed that the boreal winter AL is closely connected with the Pacific-North America teleconnection pattern. Niebauer et al. (1999) reported that the winter temperature anomaly in the Bering Sea tends to be positive (negative) when the strength of the AL is above (below) normal. Previous studies have also found that variability of the AL can influence the climate anomalies over remote regions (e.g., Zhu and Wang, 2010; Yu and Kim, 2011; Park et al., 2012; Xiao et al., 2014). For example, Xiao et al. (2014) suggested that the summer surface temperature over the Arctic is modulated by interannual variability of the preceding AL. Zhu and Wang (2010) detected a significant relationship between winter AL and the simultaneous Australian summer monsoon rainfall on interannual time scales. As discussed above, the AL can exert significant influences on the climate anomalies in its surrounding regions and remote areas. However, it remains unexplored as to whether the AL has an influence on the summer rainfall over SC. If such an influence exists, it could potentially be a good precursory signal for seasonal rainfall prediction in SC. In addition, previous studies regarding the connection of the AL with climate anomalies focused mainly on the simultaneous boreal winter (austral sum-

272 ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC SCIENCE LETTERS VOL. 8 mer) climate. Few attempts have been made to study the delayed influence of the boreal winter AL on the climate of the following summer. In the present study, we investigate the possible linkage between the boreal winter AL and the rainfall in the following summer over SC (hereafter referred to simply as following summer SC rainfall ). We find a significant connection between the intensity of the winter AL and the rainfall anomalies in July and August of the following year over SC. Hence, the objective of this study is to investigate the influence of the boreal winter AL on the rainfall in the following July and August. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: The data used in the study are described in section 2. Section 3 examines the relationship between the AL and summer rainfall over SC, describes the atmospheric circulation, and discusses the possible mechanism by which the AL influences the rainfall. Section 4 concludes the study. 2 Data This study uses a monthly high-resolution precipitation dataset over land from the University of Delaware (UD) for the period 1900 2010 (Legates and Willmott, 1990). This dataset has a horizontal resolution of 0.5 0.5. Also employed are the 160-station rainfall data from the National Climate Center of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) from 1951 to the present. The monthly mean sea level pressure (SLP) dataset is from the HadSLP2 product of the UK Met Office Hadley Centre, which has a horizontal of 5 5 and is available for the period 1850 2004 (Allan and Ansell, 2006). Horizontal winds and geopotential heights are extracted from the 20th Century Reanalysis, version 2 (20CR2), of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, for the period 1871 2010 (Compo et al., 2011), with a horizontal resolution of 2 2. The analysis in this study focuses on interannual variation. Hence, all data are subjected to a nine-year high-pass filter. The results shown in this analysis are not sensitive to a reasonable variation of the cutoff period from 5 to 11 years. Previous studies have found that boreal winter ENSO events could exert influences on the variability of the winter AL (e.g., Roeckner et al., 1996; Alexander et al., 2002), which may confuse the influence of the winter AL on the following summer SC rainfall. As ENSO possesses a phase-locking feature with a mature peak in boreal winter, we subtract the ENSO signal in the variables by means of linear regression with respect to the Niño3.4 index during December-January-February (DJF). The Niño3.4 index is defined as the area-averaged SST anomalies over the region (5 S 5 N, 170 120 W). The removal of signals associated with the DJF Niño3.4 index from the DJF AL index and analysis data can exclude the possibility that any significant correlation between the DJF AL and following summer SC rainfall is due to the influence of the DJF ENSO on both the DJF AL and following summer SC rainfall. 3 Results 3.1 Definition of the AL and SC rainfall Following Yu and Kim (2011), an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis is performed to obtain the AL index (ALI). The region chosen for the EOF analysis is (20 60 N, 120 E 80 W). Figure 1a shows the leading EOF mode of monthly SLP anomalies over the selected region for the period 1900 2004. The corresponding time series of the leading EOF mode is displayed in Fig. 1b and is defined as the ALI in this study. The first EOF mode explains about 36.5% of the total SLP variance and can be separated well from the other eigenvalues. The spatial pattern of the first EOF mode is characterized by a center of action of negative SLP anomalies near the Aleutian region (Fig. 1a), which is consistent with the result in Yu and Kim (2011). In this study, the region of SC is selected as (22 30 N, 105 118 E). There are 29 China Meteorological Administration (CMA) stations over this region, all distributed to the south of the Yangtze River. The time series of SC rainfall is defined as the area-mean rainfall over the selected SC region for the gridded rainfall dataset. For the CMA station rainfall dataset, the time series of SC rainfall is defined as the 29-station-averaged rainfall. 3.2 AL-rainfall connection In this section we examine the possible connection between the AL and SC rainfall by computing their correlation coefficients. Table 1 shows the correlation coefficients between the winter (DJF-averaged) ALI and the following summer (June-July-August, JJA-averaged and three individual months) rainfall over SC, after removing the influence of ENSO signal. Interestingly, the winter ALI is significantly and positively correlated with July Figure 1 (a) The first EOF mode of monthly sea level pressure (SLP) anomalies over the North Pacific during 1900 2004. (b) The corresponding principle component (PC) time series.

NO. 5 SONG AND DUAN: ALEUTIAN LOW AND SOUTH CHINA RAINFALL 273 Table 1 Correlation coefficients of South China summer rainfall (JJA, June, July, and August, separately) with the preceding winter (December-January-February, DJF) Aleutian Low index. The rainfall dataset are from the University of Delaware (UD) grid dataset and China Meteorological Administration (CMA) station dataset. All indices have been subjected to a nine-year high-pass filter and the DJF ENSO signal has been linearly removed in constructing this table. UD grid dataset (1901 2004) UD grid dataset (1951 2004) CAM station dataset (1951 2004) JJA rainfall 0.05 0.03 0.12 June rainfall 0.12 0.15 0.18 July rainfall 0.32* 0.39* 0.37* August rainfall 0.33* 0.35* 0.37* *95% confidence level rainfall but significantly and negatively correlated with August rainfall over SC. The standardized time series of the ALI and SC rainfall in July and August are displayed in Fig. 2. The correlation coefficient of the ALI with July (August) SC rainfall from the UD rain dataset is 0.32 ( 0.33) for the period 1901 2004, significant at the 95% confidence level based on the Student s t-test (Table 1). This indicates that an anomalously strong AL in the preceding winter tends to be followed by flood (drought) conditions in July (August) over SC. Note that no significant relationship is found between the ALI and JJA-averaged or June rainfall (Table 1). The insignificant correlation in the JJA-averaged rainfall might be attributable to the remarkably different behavior in these three individual months. In addition, the above correlation is computed using the station rain dataset for the period 1951 2004. The interannual variations of the station rainfall and UD rainfall are generally consistent with each other (Fig. 2). The correlation coefficient of the winter ALI is 0.37 ( 0.37) with July (August) rainfall for the Figure 2 Normalized time series of DJF Aleutian low index (ALI) (bars) and (a) July rainfall indices from the University of Delaware (UD) rainfall dataset (red lines) and from China Meteorological Administration (CMA) 160-station dataset (blue lines). (b) As in (a) but for August rainfall indices. DJF ALI is also shown in (b) for comparison. Note that all indices have been subjected to a nine-year high-pass filter and the DJF ENSO signal has been linearly removed in constructing this figure. period 1951 2004 using the station rain dataset, significant at the 95% confidence level consistent with that using the UD rain dataset (Table 1). Previous studies regarding the summer SC rainfall have focused mainly on the JJA-averaged rainfall (e.g., Wu et al., 2003, 2012). Our present study finds that the correlation between the boreal winter ALI and the following JJA-averaged SC rainfall is statistically insignificant. This may be due to the fact that the correlation of the ALI with the following July (August) SC rainfall is significantly positive (negative). Therefore, the subseasonal features of summer rainfall should be taken into account when investigating the SC summer rainfall. For example, Wang et al. (2009) suggested that a separate prediction of the bi-monthly anomalies for May June and July August may help improve the seasonal prediction of summer rainfall over East Asia. Figures 3a and 3b show the correlation patterns of the boreal winter ALI with SC rainfall in July and August, respectively. Very different features appear between the two periods. In July, significant and positive correlations are seen over the SC region, with the maximum value centered at about (25 N, 110 E) (Fig. 3a). In contrast, significant and negative correlations are observed over the SC region in August, with the center of maximum correlation located more northeastward compared to that in July (Fig. 3b). We also examine the correlations of the ALI in other preceding months with the July and August SC rainfall. Figures 3c and 3d display the lag-lead correlations of the three-month means of the ALI with the SC rainfall index in July and August, respectively. The ALI is from preceding autumn (September-October-November, SON) to simultaneous summer (June-July-August, JJA). The results clearly show that the correlations are significant at the 90% confidence level both in July and August from the preceding early to late winter, with the maximum value appearing in DJF (Figs. 3c and 3d). The above results indicate that SC rainfall anomalies tend to be positive (negative) in July (August) when the AL is stronger than normal in the preceding winter. The relationship between the winter AL and following summer SC rainfall is unstable. Figure 3e (3d) shows the sliding correlation between the DJF AL index and July (August) SC rainfall index with a window of 21 years. The correlation between the DJF AL and July SC rainfall is positive and statistically significant at the 90% confidence level around the 1910s, 1920s, late 1930s, and after the late 1970s; while the correlation is weak during the 1940s to the late 1970s (Fig. 3e). In addition, significant negative correlation between the DJF AL and August SC rainfall can be observed during the 1940s to 1950s and after the early 1970s; while before the 1940s and during the late 1950s to 1960s, the connection between the DJF AL and August SC rainfall is weak (Fig. 3f). The above results suggest that the connection of boreal winter AL with July and August SC rainfall experienced significant interdecadal changes in the past. The possible reasons leading to interdecadal change in the connection between the DJF AL and following summer SC rainfall will be

274 ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC SCIENCE LETTERS VOL. 8 Figure 3 Correlation of DJF ALI with (a) July and (b) August rainfall in the following year. Heavy (light) shading in (a, b) indicates correlation coefficients significant at the 95% (90%) confidence level. Contour intervals are 0.1 in (a, b), and the green box is the region of South China (22 30 N, 105 118 E) in this study. Lag-lead correlation of ALI from preceding SON to JJA with (c) July and (d) August rainfall indices obtained from the UD rainfall dataset during 1901 2004. The dashed lines indicate significance at the 95% and 90% confidence level. (e) Sliding correlations between the winter (DJF) AL index and July South China rainfall index displayed at the central year of a 21-yr window. (f) As in (e) but for the August rainfall index. Horizontal dashed lines in (e, f) indicate the correlation coefficient is significant at the 90% confidence level. Note that all variables have been subjected to a nine-year high-pass filter and the DJF ENSO signal has been linearly removed in constructing this figure. pursued in a future study. As the connection between the DJF AL and following summer SC rainfall is better after the late 1970s (Figs. 3e and 3f), in the following analysis, we focus on the period 1979 2004 to investigate the possible physical process underlying the influence of the DJF AL on the following summer SC rainfall. It should be pointed out that atmospheric circulation anomalies in the following summer over the subtropical western North Pacific associated with the DJF AL during 1979 2004 are in close agreement with the results during 1900 2004 (not shown). 3.3 Associated atmospheric circulation anomalies in July and August Changes consistent with rainfall anomalies are identified in July and August atmospheric circulation anomalies in association with the DJF ALI over East Asia and the western North Pacific. Figures 4a c display the anomalies of geopotential height at 1000 hpa, winds at 850 hpa, and geopotential height at 500 hpa, in July, as obtained by regression on the DJF ALI during 1979 2004. At 1000 hpa, significant and positive geopotential height anomalies are seen over the subtropical western North Pacific and significant and negative anomalies are observed over the midlatitudes of the North Pacific and northwest of China (Fig. 4a). At 850 hpa, a significant anticyclonic circulation appears in the subtropical western North Pacific, together with easterly wind anomalies over the tropical western North Pacific and southwesterly wind anomalies over SC (Fig. 4b). These southwesterly wind anomalies, in association with the DJF ALI over SC, increase the northward transportation of moisture from the South China Sea and then concur with anomalous ascending motion there (not shown), finally resulting in positive rainfall anomalies over SC (Fig. 3a). The geopotential height anomalies over the North Pacific at 500 hpa are similar to those at 1000 hpa (Figs. 4a and 4c), with significant positive anomalies over the subtropical western

NO. 5 SONG AND DUAN: ALEUTIAN LOW AND SOUTH CHINA RAINFALL 275 Figure 4 Anomalies of (a, d) 1000 hpa geopotential height (units: m), (b, e) 850 hpa horizontal winds (units: m s 1 ) and (c, f) 500 hpa geopotential height (units: m) in (a c) July and (d f) August regressed on the normalized DJF ALI during 1979 2004. Heavy (light) shading indicates geopotential anomalies that are significantly different from zero at the 95% (90%) confidence level. Note that all variables have been subjected to a nine-year high-pass filter and the DJF ENSO signal has been linearly removed in constructing this figure. North Pacific and negative anomalies over the midlatitudes of the North Pacific. Note that significant negative geopotential height anomalies at 1000 hpa over Northwest China are replaced by positive anomalies at 500 hpa (Figs. 4a and 4c). Correspondingly, Figs. 4d f show atmospheric circulation anomalies in August, as obtained by regression on the DJF ALI. The anomalies in August display remarkable differences to those in July. There is an anomalous cyclone over the Philippine Sea in the lower troposphere (Fig. 4e), accompanied by negative geopotential height in the lower-to-middle troposphere (Figs. 4d and 4f), but with a slightly northeastward location in contrast with July. Significant northeasterly wind anomalies are observed over SC (Fig. 4e) associated with anomalous descending motion (not shown), which can explain the negative rainfall anomalies over SC in August (Fig. 3b). At present, we find that the boreal winter AL index has a significant positive (negative) connection with the following July (August) SC rainfall. Hence, the preceding winter AL may be used as an effective predictor of July and August rainfall anomalies. The key system connecting the preceding winter AL and July (August) SC rainfall is the anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation anomaly over the subtropical western Northern Pacific. However, the possible physical processes responsible for the formation of the winter AL-related anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation anomalies in July (August) remain unclear. We speculate that winter AL-related boundary forcing (e.g., land/ocean) may play important roles in the formation of atmospheric circulation anomalies over the subtropical western North Pacific in the following summer. 4 Conclusion This study investigates the influence of the winter AL on SC rainfall in the following summer. Results show that the wintertime AL is significantly positively (negatively) correlated with the SC rainfall in the following July (August). Specifically, SC rainfall anomalies tend to be positive (negative) when the preceding winter AL is stronger. The results of this study indicate that the preceding winter ALI can be used as a potential predictor of the following July and August rainfall anomalies over SC. A significant anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation anomaly can be observed over the subtropical western North Pacific in the following July (August), which can explain the pronounced positive (negative) correlation of SC rainfall in July (August) with the preceding winter AL. Southerly (northerly) wind anomalies to the west of the anomalous anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation increase (decrease) the northward moisture transportation and thus contribute to the positive (negative) rainfall anomalies over SC in July (August). Acknowledgments. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and comments, which helped to improve the paper. This work was sponsored by the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2012CB955202). References Alexander, M. A., I. Blade, M. Newman, et al., 2002: The atmospheric bridge: The influence of ENSO teleconnections on air-sea interaction over the global oceans, J. Climate, 15, 2205 2231. Allan, R., and T. Ansell, 2006: A new globally-complete historical gridded mean sea level pressure data set (HadSLP2), 1850 2004,

276 ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC SCIENCE LETTERS VOL. 8 J. Climate, 19, 5816 5842. Compo, G. P., J. S. Whitaker, P. D. Sardeshmukh, et al., 2011: The twentieth century reanalysis project, Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 137, 1 28. Chen, S., W. Chen, and R. Wu, 2015: An interdecadal change in the relationship between boreal spring Arctic Oscillation and the East Asian summer monsoon around the early 1970s, J. Climate, 28, 1527 1542. Duan, W., L. Y. Song, Y. Li, et al., 2013: Modulation of PDO on the predictability of interannual variability of early summer rainfall over south China, J. Geophys. Res., 118, 13008 13021. Gong, D. Y., J. Yang, S. J. Kim, et al., 2011: Spring Arctic Oscillation-East Asian summer monsoon connection through circulation changes over the western North Pacific, Climate Dyn., 37, 2199 2216. Huang, R., L. Zhou, and W. Chen, 2003: The progresses of recent studies on the variabilities of the East Asian monsoon and their causes, Adv. Atmos. Sci, 20(1), 55 69. Legates, D. R., and C. J. Willmott, 1990: Mean seasonal and spatial variability in gauge corrected, global precipitation, Int. J. Climatol., 10, 111 127. Liang, X. Z., and W. C. Wang, 1998: Association between China monsoon rainfall and tropospheric jets, Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 124, 2597 2623. Mao, J., J. C. Chan, and G. Wu, 2011: Interannual variations of early summer monsoon rainfall over South China under different PDO backgrounds, Int. J. Climatol., 31(6), 847 862. Niebauer, H. J., N. A. Bond, L. P. Yakunin, et al., 1999: An update on the climatology and sea ice of the Bering Sea, in: Dynamics of the Bering Sea: A Summary of Physical, Chemical, and Biological Characteristics, and A Synopsis of Research on the Bering Sea, T. R. Loughlin (Eds.), University of Alaska Sea Grant, Fairbanks, 29 59. Overland, J. E., J. M. Adams, and N. A. Bond, 1999: Decadal variability of the Aleutian Low and its relation to high-latitude circulation, J. Climate, 12, 1542 1548. Park, Y. H., J. H. Yoon, Y.-H. Youn, et al., 2012: Recent warming in the western North Pacific in relation to rapid changes in the atmospheric circulation of the Siberian High and Aleutian Low systems, J. Climate, 25, 3476 3493. Parkinson, C. L., 1990: The impact of the Siberian high and Aleutian low on the sea-ice cover of the Sea of Okhotsk, Ann. Glaciol., 14, 226 229. Roeckner, E., J. M. Oberhuber, A. Bacher, et al., 1996: ENSO variability and atmospheric response in a global coupled atmosphere-ocean GCM, Climate Dyn., 12, 737 754. Tao, S. Y., Q. Y. Zhang, and S. L. Zhang, 2001: An observational study on the behavior of the subtropical high over the west Pacific in summer, Acta Meteor. Sinica (in Chinese), 59, 747 758. Trenberth, K. E., and J. W. Hurrell, 1994: Decadal atmospheric-ocean variations in the Pacific, Climate Dyn., 9, 303 319. Tang, W., Z. Sun, and G. Tan, 2008: Effect of Indian Ocean Dipole on rainfall anomaly in south of China, J. Nanjing Inst. Meteor. (in Chinese), 31(6), 836 843. Wang, B., J. Liu, J. Yang, et al., 2009: Distinct principal modes of early and late summer rainfall anomalies in East Asia, J. Climate, 22, 3864 3875. Wang, B., R. Wu, and X. Fu, 2010: Pacific-East Asian teleconnection: How does ENSO affect East Asian climate? J. Climate, 13(9), 1517 1536. Wu, R., Z. Z, Hu, and B. P. Kirtman, 2003: Evolution of ENSOrelated rainfall anomalies in East Asia, J. Climate, 16, 3742 3758. Wu, R., and B. P. Kirtman, 2007: Observed relationship of spring and summer East Asian rainfall with winter and spring Eurasian snow, J. Climate, 20(7), 1285 1304. Wu, R., S. Yang, Z. Wen, et al., 2012: Interdecadal change in the relationship of southern China summer rainfall with tropical Indo-Pacific SST, Theor. Appl. Climatol., 108(1), 119 133. Wu, Z. W, B. Wang, J. P. Li, et al., 2009: An empirical seasonal prediction model of the east Asian summer monsoon using ENSO and NAO, J. Geophys. Res., 114, doi:10.1029/2009jd011733. Xiao, F., H. Jiang, B. Wu, et al., 2014: The leading correlation of the winter Aleutian Low with surface air temperature during the subsequent summer over the Arctic and its possible mechanism, Chin. Sci. Bull., 59(9), 904 912. Xie, S. P., K. Hu, J. Hafner, et al., 2009: Indian Ocean capacitor effect on Indo-Western Pacific climate during the summer following El Niño, J. Climate, 22, 730 747. Yang, S., and W. Lau, 2006: Interannual variability of the Asian monsoon, in: The Asian Monsoon, B. Wang (Ed.), Springer Praxis, 259 293. Yu, J. Y., and S. T. Kim, 2011: Relationships between extratropical sea level pressure variations and the central Pacific and eastern Pacific types of ENSO, J. Climate, 24, 708 720. Zhu, Y., and H. Wang, 2010: The Relationship between the Aleutian Low and the Australian summer monsoon at interannual time scales, Adv. Atmos. Sci., 27(1), 177 184.