Circumpolar Circulation Patterns Over the Northern Hemisphere Oceans in Late Winter, 1949-2002.

To assess interannual changes in ocean-to-land advection, we extract zonal winds for February and March, 1949-2002, from NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis. Winds are analyzed at pairs of locations (55 deg N and 35 deg N) in the N. Pacific (15 deg W), N. Atlantic (30 deg W) and Baltic/Mediterranean (30 deg E). The monthly means at the northern and southern sites are negatively correlated. For N. Pacific, winds at 55 deg N show negative trends at all levels (magnitude increasing with altitude), versus positive at 35 deg N. An opposite scenario is observed over N. Atlantic, positive (negative) trends at 55 deg N (35 deg N) and similarly, but weaker, over the Baltic/Mediterranean. The geographic variability of trends is attributed to displacement of the polar vortex wave pattern. Increasing storm strength/frequency over N. Hemisphere oceans is inherently related to the strong positive trends in wind speed and vertical shear.