Aspects of a northern hemisphere atmospheric blocking climatology

Abstract

A comprehensive climatology of Northern Hemisphere blocking is described based on a PV-θ wave-breaking index at the latitude of the climatological storm track and using the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) dataset. The general characterization of blocking regions is in agreement with most other studies, though more detail is provided here. In the annual average, blocking is most prevalent in the large region from the eastern Atlantic Ocean through Europe to central Asia with a secondary region in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. Using a blocking criterion with the requirement for both longitudinal extent and temporal persistance, the peak in the frequency is in the Scandinavian region, where 24% of the days are characterized by blocking. In the east Pacific maximum, the corresponding number is 7%. However, there is considerable and very important interannual variability. The decay rate in the number of blocking events lasting at least a specified number of days is significantly less over Europe than elsewhere. However, the average intensity of blocking episodes is slightly higher in the east Pacific. The mean annual cycle of blocking is quite complex. Over most of Europe it continues through the year, with maximum intensities in the autumn and winter. To both the east and west, over the western Atlantic and Asia, there are two periods in the year of highest blocking frequency. Similar two-cycle behavior is found in the eastern Pacific region. The relationship of blocking with the storm track and the mean planetary-scale geopotential ridges is considered, and the evidence that blocking is a particular phenomenon with its own nonlinear dynamics is discussed. © 2008 American Meteorological Society.