Modulation of Pacific decadal oscillation on the relationship between El Niño–Southern Oscillation and rainy season onset over the Indo‐China Peninsula

Abstract Monsoon precipitation variability over the Indo‐China Peninsula (ICP) has become more complicated affected by global warming. In this study, the modulation of Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) on the relationship between El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the rainy season onset over the ICP were investigated. The results showed that the ICP rainy season onset were predominantly correlated with winter sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the East Pacific Ocean, with late and early onsets following El Niño and La Niña events, respectively. During the warm and cold PDO phase, the correlations tended to be substantially strengthened and weakened, respectively. Further analysis indicates that PDO significantly influenced the effects of ENSO on the ICP rainy season onset by modulating SSTAs and low‐level wind fields. During the El Niño events, abnormal easterlies over the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and southern ICP suppressed water vapour transporting to the ICP, which may be related to the zonal SST anomaly gradient between the Indian Ocean and the Northwest Pacific Ocean. When the El Niño occurred during the warm PDO phase, the rainy season onsets were later. The anomalous easterlies became stronger corresponds to the increasing zonal sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) gradient between the Indian Ocean and the Northwest Pacific Ocean. There was no significant anomaly on the rainy season onset during the cold PDO phase. During the La Niña events, the abnormal westerlies in BOB accelerated water vapour transport, and the rainy season onset were earlier during the warm and cold PDO phase. The modulating effects of PDO on La Niña were less than those on El Niño. These results suggest that the predictability of rainy season onset over the ICP can be improved through PDO and thus help agricultural planning and water resources management.