Pacific decadal variability is studied in a series of coupled global ocean–atmosphere simulations aided by two “modeling surgery” strategies: partial coupling (PC) and partial blocking (PB). The PC experiments retain full ocean–atmosphere coupling in selected regions, but constrain ocean–atmosphere coupling elsewhere by prescribing the model climatological SST to force the atmospheric component of the coupled system. In PB experiments, sponge walls are inserted into the ocean component of the coupled model at specified latitudinal bands to block the extratropical–tropical oceanic teleconnection. Both modeling and observational studies suggest that Pacific decadal variability is composed of two distinct modes: a decadal to bidecadal tropical Pacific mode (TPM) and a multidecadal North Pacific mode (NPM). The PC and PB experiments showed that the tropical Pacific mode originates predominantly from local coupled ocean–atmosphere interaction within the tropical Pacific. Extratropical–tropical telecon... Abstract Pacific decadal variability is studied in a series of coupled global ocean–atmosphere simulations aided by two “modeling surgery” strategies: partial coupling (PC) and partial blocking (PB). The PC experiments retain full ocean–atmosphere coupling in selected regions, but constrain ocean–atmosphere coupling elsewhere by prescribing the model climatological SST to force the atmospheric component of the coupled system. In PB experiments, sponge walls are inserted into the ocean component of the coupled model at specified latitudinal bands to block the extratropical–tropical oceanic teleconnection. Both modeling and observational studies suggest that Pacific decadal variability is composed of two distinct modes: a decadal to bidecadal tropical Pacific mode (TPM) and a multidecadal North Pacific mode (NPM). The PC and PB experiments showed that the tropical Pacific mode originates predominantly from local coupled ocean–atmosphere interaction within the tropical Pacific. Extratropical–tropical telecon...

The causes of the Texas–northern Mexico drought during 2010–11 are shown, using observations, reanalyses, and model simulations, to arise from a combination of ocean forcing and internal atmospheric variability. The drought began in fall 2010 and winter 2010/11 as a La Niña event developed in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Climate models forced by observed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) produced dry conditions in fall 2010 through spring 2011 associated with transient eddy moisture flux divergence related to a northward shift of the Pacific–North American storm track, typical of La Niña events. In contrast the observed drought was not associated with such a clear shift of the transient eddy fields and instead was significantly influenced by internal atmospheric variability including the negative North Atlantic Oscillation of winter 2010/11, which created mean flow moisture divergence and drying over the southern Plains and southeast United States. The models suggest that drought continuation into summer 2011 was not strongly SST forced. Mean flow circulation and moisture divergence anomalies were responsible for the summer 2011 drought, arising from either internal atmospheric variability or a response to dry summer soils not captured by the models. The summer of 2011 was one of the two driest and hottest summers over recent decades but it does not represent a clear outlier to the strong inverse relation between summer precipitation and temperature in the region. Seasonal forecasts at 3.5-month lead time did predict onset of the drought in fall and winter 2010/11 but not intensification into summer 2011, demonstrating the current, and likely inherent, inability to predict important aspects of North American droughts.

Anthropogenic aerosols are a major factor contributing to human‐induced climate change, particularly over the densely populated Asian monsoon region. Understanding the physical processes controlling the aerosol‐induced changes in monsoon rainfall is essential for reducing the uncertainties in the future projections of the hydrological cycle. Here we use multiple coupled and atmospheric general circulation models to explore the physical mechanisms for the aerosol‐driven monsoon changes on different time scales. We show that anthropogenic aerosols induce an overall reduction in monsoon rainfall and circulation, which can be largely explained by the fast adjustments over land north of 20^∘N. This fast response occurs before changes in sea surface temperature (SST), largely driven by aerosol‐cloud interactions. However, aerosol‐induced SST feedbacks (slow response) cause substantial changes in the monsoon meridional circulation over the oceanic regions. Both the land‐ocean asymmetry and meridional temperature gradient are key factors in determining the overall monsoon circulation response.

Forecast performance by coupled ocean–atmosphere or one-tiered models predicting seasonal rainfall totals over South Africa is compared with forecasts produced by computationally less demanding two-tiered systems where prescribed sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies are used to force the atmospheric general circulation model. Two coupled models and one two-tiered model are considered here, and they are, respectively, the ECHAM4.5–version 3 of the Modular Ocean Model (MOM3-DC2), the ECHAM4.5-GML–NCEP Coupled Forecast System (CFSSST), and the ECHAM4.5 atmospheric model that is forced with SST anomalies predicted by a statistical model. The 850-hPa geopotential height fields of the three models are statistically downscaled to South African Weather Service district rainfall data by retroactively predicting 3-month seasonal rainfall totals over the 14-yr period from 1995/96 to 2008/09. Retroactive forecasts are produced for lead times of up to 4 months, and probabilistic forecast performance is evaluated for three categories with the outer two categories, respectively, defined by the 25th and 75th percentile values of the climatological record. The resulting forecast skill levels are also compared with skill levels obtained by downscaling forecasts produced by forcing the atmospheric model with simultaneously observed SST in order to produce a reference forecast set. Downscaled forecasts from the coupled systems generally outperform the downscaled forecasts from the two-tiered system, but neither of the two systems outscores the reference forecasts, suggesting that further improvement in operational seasonal rainfall forecast skill for South Africa is still achievable.