Search the Community

The goal of this thread is to create a valuable learning thread about long range forecasting. First, the concept of long range forecasting will be explained in short. Thereafter, we will have a global look at the GWO (Global wind oscillation) and how it affects our weather. Long range forecasting Long range forecasting (10+ days out) has proven to be a very difficult subject over the past several years. It is a timeframe where global models lose their deterministic value, although they can still be used as a guide for trends. It is also a timeframe where the presence or absence of tropical convection at a given place near the equator can change the complete midlatitude synoptic setting (this is showing some resemblance to the so-called butterfly effect). Fortunately, this is how far the bad news goes. Even though small details can change whole patterns, these details can be predicted to quite some extent and can even show a kind of cyclical pattern. This is, for example, the case for tropical convection activity anomalies (e.g. the MJO). That means that knowing how these patterns will develop makes one able to tell something about the weather at the midlatitudes, mainly through analogues of previous years which have seen a same kind of pattern. To make this recognition of patterns somewhat easier, teleconnections have been developed. Think of the GWO (Global Wind Oscillation, a recently developed index), MJO (Madden-Julian oscillation) and ENSO (contains and explains El Nino and La Nina) to name but a few. Aside from the indices listed above, a fairly new subject is stratospheric meteorology, which also has predictive value for forecasting, for example, the likehood of blocking developing at the midlatitudes. A separate thread can be found on this forum about this subject. The interesting, yet complicated, part comes when one tries to interpret one teleconnection separately. This is not possible, because all the teleconnections are interrelated. For example, ENSO has an effect on the convective anomalies in the tropics (which is, in very simple terms, where the MJO relies on). Therefore, if one wants to make a very good long range forecast, all factors need to be incorporated in one view. Glacier Point, an old member of this forum, is a master on this subject. For most of us, though, there is much that can still be learned about this. It would be nice to get as much input as possible on these teleconnections in order to make this a valuable thread in terms of long range forecasting all year round! GWO One of the several interesting teleconnections is the GWO (global wind oscillation). The part below may help in grasping the concept of this. Basics of the concept The GWO is an index which tells something about the amount and latitudinal localization of AAM in the atmosphere. Atmospheric Angular Momentum is a conserved quantity in the atmosphere. It is defined from the Earth' axis of rotation (so from the north pole through the Earth’ core up to the South Pole). We will regard the wind speed relative to the Earth’ rotation (so the wind speed we can measure). The image below gives a good representation of how this should be visualized. Visualization of AAM as it could be seen from viewing the Earth. Courtesy: COMET. AAM is, in terms of the atmosphere, equal to the velocity of an air parcel times the distance it is away from the Earth’ axis. For example, at the Equator, the distance of an air parcel to the Earth’ axis is very large. Therefore, it has a relatively low velocity. When the air parcel is being carried away from the Equator, its distance relative to the Earth’ axis decreases. That means the velocity needs to increase in order to maintain conservation of AAM. As a result, the parcel will accelerate. This is all under the assumption that the parcel does not exchange AAM with the surface or other air parcels. Near the equator, the wind is from west to east relative to the Earth. This, paradoxically, means the air is still moving from east to west, but at a slower speed than the Earth rotates itself. This all results in AAM being added to the atmosphere from the surface. At the midlatitudes, this situation is reversed. Winds tend to flow quickly from east to west at this latitude relative to the rotation Earth. This means that the air flows from east to west even faster than the Earth rotates itself. As a result, AAM is being lost to the surface due to this imbalance. The above yields a surplus of AAM at the equator and a shortage of AAM at the midlatitudes. This in turn creates a “flow†of AAM from the equator to the midlatitudes. The image above illustrates this well. Mountains (courtesy to Tamara for contributing in this part) Mountains can add and reduce AAM via torques (in terms of friction). This process is quite complicated, but it is an important factor for the GWO. Basically, this event can be thought of some kind of weather event colliding with a large mountain range (Rockies, Himalaya etc.). This torque mechanism can add or remove AAM from the atmosphere. Such mountain torque events can send Rossby waves into the stratosphere in a certain part of the Northern Hemisphere. The net effect of this is to create a disturbance to the polar vortex and a jet stream amplification which feeds downstream. In layman’s terms a mountain torque can affect the amount of amplification that happens downstream. If, for example, the Pacific jetstream collides at the Rockies, it may via complicated mechanisms (aka the Rossby waves mentioned above) cause amplification in the flow toward Europe, causing blocking to form. GWO orbit explained The GWO has a cyclical nature. This means that the GWO undergoes a kind of repetitive pattern, which can be explained by a circle diagram. Analogous to the MJO, the GWO has been divided in 8 phases, each with its own characteristics. All these phases are basically a follow-up of the phase before. The GWO orbit can be best seen as a measure for the total amount of AAM in the atmosphere. Below is the GWO orbit diagram with a brief explanation of what happens at every phase. Visualization of the GWO orbit In phase 1, negative mountain torque removes AAM from the atmosphere. The longer the GWO stays there, the lower the amount of AAM becomes in the atmosphere. This can be thought of a Jetstream colliding at a large mountain range Phase 2 and 3 generally describe low AAM values in the atmosphere (which is on average also occurring according to the conceptual model described above). In phase 4 and 5, positive mountain torque adds AAM to the atmosphere. The longer the GWO remains in that position, the higher the amount of AAM becomes in the atmosphere. Finally, phase 6 and 7 indicate high levels of AAM in the atmosphere. Concluding remarks There is much more that can be told about the GWO (and many other parameters), but that is for a later time! Any help or corrections in the explanation are greatly appreciated. Also, I hope many people will be willing to contribute to this thread! Here’s hoping that this will become a fruitful thread and a learning place for many! Useful links In the end, a list of links which could help for teleconnections are given here: GWO forecast: http://www.atmos.albany.edu/student/nschiral/gwo.html GWO composites: http://www.atmos.albany.edu/student/nschiral/comp.html MJO forecasts: http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/MJO/mjo.shtml MJO composites: http://www.americanwx.com/raleighwx/MJO/MJO.html Update on tropical weather (expert assessment on tropical convection, including the MJO, great link): http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/ghazards/ ECMWF stratosphere forecast: http://www.geo.fu-berlin.de/en/met/ag/strat/produkte/winterdiagnostics/ Stratosphere updates: https://forum.netweather.tv/topic/81567-stratosphere-temperature-watch-20142015/ GWO further reading: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/clim/gwo.htm Sources: https://www.meted.ucar.edu/ http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/clim/test_maproom.html

Hi folks. This thread is basically going to be for people to post up their analysis on how different teleconnections influence winter weather in the UK, so hopefully some of the more technically proficient members in here will contribute. The pieces of analysis can then be used as a reference for anyone considering putting together a LRF. So for example, if they want to see how the PDO may influence the weather, they can check out the different analysis on it here before adding it to their forecast.Likewise with the NAO, AO, ENSO, etc. This thread would also be useful just for learning more things about teleconnections in general, as well as sourcing data and helping with analytical and forecasting techniques and things of the sort. A few rules to start off with. -post your own analysis or links to other studies -back up anything you do with facts and figures -no general chat -requests for particular analysis or data should be done through pm or on a more open thread (to make finding what you want in here easier) Here's a few data sources for anyone that wants them NAO AO PDO MEI Arctic Sea Ice Extent 78-10 &10-present Antarctic Sea Ice 78-10 & 10-present AMO QBO Sunspots Global Annual Temperatures CET Daily Composite Charts Monthly/Seasonal Composite Charts Monthly Times Series We'll see how this goes anyway. Perhaps after a while, the different pieces of analysis can be grouped together in a pinned thread for future reference. Thanks to bobbydog for the coming up with the idea for the thread and the title! I'll start off by posting up the PDO and ENSO pieces I did in the winter thread and hopefully some others will join in. Do feel free to tell me if I've mucked up somewhere, as I'm only learning this stuff and would like to learn from any mistakes!