The inter‐annual variability of southerly low‐level jets in North America

• Published in: International journal of climatology 2017-01, Vol.37 (1), p.343-357
• Main Authors: Yu, Lejiang, Zhong, Shiyuan, Winkler, Julie A., Doubler, Dana L., Bian, Xindi, Walters, Claudia K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: El Niño Modoki; El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO); empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs); Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO); southerly low‐level jet
• ISSN: 0899-8418; 1097-0088
• DOI: 10.1002/joc.4708

ABSTRACT The inter‐annual variability of southerly low‐level jets (SLLJs) over North America during the warm (April–September) and cool (October–March) seasons is investigated. SLLJ occurrences over a 31‐year period (1979–2009) were identified from the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) vertical wind profiles. The first empirical orthogonal function (EOF) modes of the SLLJ frequency during the warm and cool seasons account for about 30 and 20% of the total variance, respectively. Both modes can be interpreted as a strengthening or weakening of the core area of SLLJ anomalies. The principal component (PC) time series display significant positive trends, suggesting an increase in SLLJ activity during both seasons on inter‐decadal time scales and are significantly correlated to the summertime Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) for the warm season and the wintertime PDO, AMO and El Niño Modoki for the cool season. The second modes account for about 20 and 15% of the total variance for the warm and cool seasons, respectively, and are interpreted as primarily a subseasonal latitudinal shift in SLLJ activity between the central Great Plains and the western Gulf of Mexico and southern Texas during the warm season and a longitudinal shift between the western Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean during the cool season. The second mode appears to be significantly correlated to El Niño Modoki for the warm season and to Niño 3.4 for the cool season.