Cold Surges Over North America Caused Remotely by Northwest Pacific Explosive Cyclones
Abstract Explosive cyclones (ECs) are mid‐latitude cyclones that rapidly intensify, causing strong local winds and precipitation. Although local characteristics of ECs over Northwest Pacific have been studied extensively, their downstream influences are not well understood. Here, we identify 51 ECs over the Northwest Pacific in November from 2000 to 2022 based on sea level pressure of multiple data sets. We demonstrate that a cross‐Pacific Rossby wave train, triggered by strong latent heat release due to increased precipitation of ECs, can transport substantial energy toward North America (NA). Consequently, an anomalous quasi‐barotropic ridge (trough) forms over the North Pacific (NA). Between them, northerly anomalies lead to cold advection over NA, associated with a negative air thickness anomaly, causing widespread cold anomalies there. Our findings, supported by observations and model experiments, provide novel insights into the downstream effect of ECs, including a potential source of extended‐range predictability for NA temperatures during the Fall season.
Authors
- Jian Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8042-7789)
- Fei Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1119-9081)
- Ruichang Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6300-6915)
- Jin‐Yi Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6156-7623)
- Neil J. Holbrook (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3523-6254)
- Teng Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8288-6188)
- Alexey V. Fedorov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5428-1117)
- Li Chun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8031-3132)
- Kang Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3149-6005)
Institutions
- University of Tasmania (AU)
- Planetary Science Institute (US)
- Australian Research Council (AU)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Yale University (US)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Institute of Oceanology (CN)
- South China Sea Institute Of Oceanology (CN)
- Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (FR)
- Irvine University (US)
- Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat : Expérimentations et Approches Numériques (FR)
- Laoshan Laboratory
- Ocean University of China (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-12-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl119533
- Primary Topic
- Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- University of California, Riverside