Northeast Pacific marine heatwaves associated with high-latitude atmospheric blocking

Abstract

The Northeast Pacific Ocean (NEP) is one of the hotspots of marine heatwaves (MHWs) occurring in the global ocean. The causes of MHWs in this region have been widely investigated, but the physical processes underlying heatwaves and regional climate variability remain under debate. By analyzing interannual large-scale high-latitude atmospheric dynamics and oceanic physical conditions over the NEP, we show that winter-spring sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies are strongly correlated with winter-spring atmospheric blocking events over Alaska. The occurrence of weaker westerly wind over the subarctic region over the NEP during the period of the blocking, accompanies a shallower vertical mixed layer, less southward horizontal Ekman transport, and higher SST in the upper NEP. These findings establish a linkage between high-latitude atmospheric dynamics and subarctic oceanic conditions and reveal the physical mechanisms of this connection, providing new insight into the possible causes of MHW in the NEP.