Early-to-Late Winter 20th Century North Atlantic Multidecadal Atmospheric Variability in Observations, CMIP5 and CMIP6

Abstract

The strong multidecadal variability in North Atlantic (NA) winter atmospheric circulation is poorly understood and appears too weak in climate models. Recent research has shown peak atmospheric multidecadal variability over the NA in late winter, particularly March, linked to Atlantic multidecadal variability (AMV) of the ocean. Here a range of NA atmospheric circulation indices are assessed to provide a comprehensive picture of early-to-late winter low-frequency variability and its representation in the latest generation of climate models (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 [CMIP6]). As found for CMIP5, CMIP6 models exhibit too-weak multidecadal NA atmospheric variability compared to reanalysis data over the period 1862–2005. Consistent with previous research, the eastern part of the NA westerly jet (U700NA) exhibits peak low-frequency variability in March. However, for NA-wide jet speed and the NAO, low-frequency variability and model-reanalysis discrepancies are strongest in January and February, associated with too-weak NA ocean-atmosphere linkages.