Eddy Lifetime, Number, and Diffusivity and the Suppression of Eddy Kinetic Energy in Midwinter

Abstract

The wintertime evolution of the North Pacific storm track appears to challenge classical theories of baroclinic instability, which predict deeper extratropical cyclones when baroclinicity is highest. Although the surface baroclinicity peaks during midwinter, and the jet is strongest, eddy kinetic energy (EKE) and baroclinic conversion rates have a midwinter minimum over the North Pacific. This study investigates how the reduction in EKE translates into a reduction in eddy potential vorticity (PV) and heat fluxes via changes in eddy diffusivity. Additionally, it augments previous observations of the midwinter storm-track evolution in both hemispheres using climatologies of tracked surface cyclones. In the North Pacific, the number of surface cyclones is highest during midwinter, while the mean EKE per cyclone and the eddy lifetime are reduced. The midwinter reduction in upper-level eddy activity hence is not associated with a reduction in surface cyclone numbers. North Pacific eddy diffusivities exhibit a midwinter reduction at upper levels, where the Lagrangian decorrelation time is shortest (consistent with reduced eddy lifetimes) and the meridional parcel velocity variance is reduced (consistent with reduced EKE). The resulting midwinter reduction in North Pacific eddy diffusivities translates into an eddy PV flux suppression. In contrast, in the North Atlantic, a milder reduction in the decorrelation time is offset by a maximum in velocity variance, preventing a midwinter diffusivity minimum. The results suggest that a focus on causes of the wintertime evolution of Lagrangian decorrelation times and parcel velocity variance will be fruitful for understanding causes of seasonal storm-track variations.

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