The sudden stratospheric warming in January 2021

Bibliographic Data

ID15550796
AuthorsQian Lu (0000-0003-2226-9804, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology), Jian Rao (0000-0001-5030-0288, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, corresponding author), Zhuoqi Liang (Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology), Dong Guo (0000-0001-5206-2287, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology), Jing‐Jia Luo (0000-0003-2181-0638, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology), Jingjia Luo, Siming Liu (0009-0000-0183-454X, University of Chicago), Chun Wang (0009-0002-7869-0892, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology), Tian Wang (0000-0003-3431-158X, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology)
Year2021
Volume16
Issue8
Pages084029-084029
Publication date2021-07-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Research Letters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326
PublisherIOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1088/1748-9326/ac12f4
OpenAlexW3178368669
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited40

Using the ERA5 reanalysis, sea surface temperature and sea ice observations, and the real-time multivariate Madden–Julian index, this study explores a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in January 2021, its favorable conditions, and the near surface impact. Wavenumbers 1 and 2 alternately contributed to the total eddy heat flux from mid-December 2020 to late January 2021, and the wavenumber 2 during the onset period nearly split the stratospheric polar vortex. In mid-December 2020 and during the 2021 New Year period (1–5 January 2021), a blocking developed over the Urals, which enhanced the local ridge and the climatological wavenumber 2. Composite results confirm that the Arctic sea ice loss in autumn and La Niña favor the deepening of the high latitude North Pacific low and the increase of the Urals height ridge, which together enhance the planetary waves and hence disturb the stratospheric polar vortex. However, the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) in the tropics was dormant in mid-to-late December 2020 and early January 2021, and the well-established statistical relationship between the MJO convection over the western Pacific and the SSW is not applicable to this special case. The cold air outbreak in China during the 2021 New Year period before the January 2021 SSW onset is not explained by the SSW signal which developed in the stratosphere. In contrast, the downward-propagating signal reached the near surface in mid-February 2021, which may contribute to the cold air outbreak in US and may help to explain the extreme coldness of Texas in middle February

Arctic oscillation · Atmospheric sciences · Climatology · Convection · Geography · Madden–Julian oscillation · Meteorology · Northern Hemisphere · Polar vortex · Ridge · Stratosphere · Sudden stratospheric warming · Troposphere · Atmospheric Ozone and Climate · Climate variability and models · Environmental Science · Meteorological Phenomena and Simulations · Geology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access