While I’m in a renewed rush to compile 500Mb and jet set-up and digitize ridges, troughs and so on, I thought to maybe use the NCEP/NCAR in a different way.
Less time consuming.
I concentrated on the supposed rise of the geopotential levels over the Arctic and the corresponding winds at 300Mb.
Let’s show some samples:
1. Here’s last winters’ 500Mb against the climo:As I’ve suggested earlier on the Forum, the level has risen up to some 120 m. There’s always a compensation; over ca. 45dN there are sinks (mind, relatively!)
2. And it stands out against other years, here FI last year: This configuration reflects the steering that gave the Kara and Barentsz more ice than expected last winter.
3. There’s more…what to think about this 300Mb vector wind spaghetti:It shows the anomalies in steering pattern wind directions high up. Mind, it’s anomaly…it didn’t flow from Norway to Labrador all the time!
4. Wintertime’s last; the meridional wind anomalies:As a proxy for all the blockings… maybe I should also show the Zonal, but this post gets so large…
And so, I wondered, does the level rise continue through spring/early summer?
5. It does, though less explicitly:Although it is asymmetrically dislocated, probably due to the anomalous PDO/PNA around the Gulf of Alaska.
6. Again, it holds comparing to other years:Even to formidable melt year ’12, though completely lopsided. The Baffin rise fails to ’12 (not to the climo see 5).
7. Let’s serve the spaghetti:Some wind directions look fine, but hey, it runs over 35dN, to pick one “olive” from this amazing plate.
Nothing’s wrong on the US Atlantic seaboard?
Well…
8. Look at the Meridional wind anomaly on 300Mb:Now, that dish really gives you the collywobbles…
I think over at the blog Jai Mitchell wrote on all anomalous cut-off lows and blocks over the US. This visualises it nicely. Even the preferred trough position over Greenland. And…And…
For what its worth, I’ll answer my own questions from the “second storm”-thread on the blog.
This is all highly anomalous (worryingly, alarmingly, whatever…)