Implications of Ural Blocking for East Asian Winter Climate in CMIP5 GCMs. Part I: Biases in the Historical Scenario

This study assesses the ability of the 25 GCMs from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) to simulate Ural blocking (UB) and its linkage with the East Asian winter climate [December–February (DJF)] in a historical run (1950/51–2004/05). A Ural blocking index (UBI) is defined as the DJF-mean blocking frequency over 45°–90°E for each winter.Regression analyses suggest that the long-term mean bias of UBI is caused by the long-term mean circulation bias over the North Atlantic. On seasonal time scales, the GCMs simulating a positive bias of UBI are associated with a stronger Atlantic jet stream, as well as stronger westerly momentum fluxes from the North Atlantic to Europe. On synoptic time scales, however, these GCMs tend to be associated with a weaker Siberian high and East Asian trough during the evolution of a UB event. Altogether, there is no apparent linkage between the long-term mean bias of UB and the East Asian winter climate. Further studies are needed to explore the t...