The Relationship Between Recent Arctic Amplification and Extreme Mid-Latitude Weather

Judah Levi Cohen, Atmos and Environ Res Inc., Lexington, MA, United States, James Screen, University of Melbourne, University of Exeter, Melbourne, Australia; University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, Jason C Furtado, University of Oklahoma, School of Meterology, Norman, OK, United States, Mathew A Barlow, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Lowell, United States, David P Whittleston, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CEE, Cambridge, MA, United States, Dim Coumou, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Potsdam, Germany, Jennifer Ann Francis, Woodwell Climate Research Center, Falmouth, NJ, United States, Klaus Dethloff, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz-Center for Polar and Marine Research Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany, Dara Entekhabi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cambridge, United States and James E Overland, NOAA Seattle, Seattle, United States
Abstract:
The Arctic has warmed more than twice as fast as the global average and is refereed to as Arctic amplification. The rapid Arctic warming has contributed to dramatic melting of Arctic sea ice and spring snow cover, at a pace greater than simulated by the climate models. These profound changes to the Arctic system have coincided with a period of ostensibly more frequent events of extreme weather across the Northern Hemisphere (NH) mid-latitudes, including recent severe winters. The possible link between Arctic change and mid-latitude weather can be broadly grouped under three potential dynamical mechanisms—changes in: storm tracks, the jet stream and planetary-waves and their associated energy propagation. I will discuss how less sea ice and increase snow cover separately can force more severe winter weather across the NH continents. I will conclude with a new idea for how it is possible for sea ice and snow cover to jointly influence mid-latitude weather.
Back to: Extratropical and High-Latitude Storms, Teleconnections, and the Changing Polar Climate I