Open AccessPredictability of European winter 2016/2017
Author(s) -
Dunstone Nick,
Scaife Adam A.,
MacLachlan Craig,
Knight Jeff,
Ineson Sarah,
Smith Doug,
Thornton Hazel,
Gordon Margaret,
McLean Peter,
Palin Erika,
Hardiman Steven,
Walker Brent
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
atmospheric science letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 45
ISSN - 1530-261X
DOI - 10.1002/asl.868
Subject(s) - predictability , climatology , environmental science , meteorology , geography , mathematics , geology , statistics
Winter 2016/2017 was one of the driest on record for central Europe and the United Kingdom. This was the result of blocked atmospheric circulation with high pressure centred over North‐West Europe dominating the winter mean circulation pattern. Using large ensembles of simulated winters, we find that the observed winter 2016/2017 circulation was very similar in pattern and strength to the circulation associated with the top 10% of driest Central European winters. Here, we explore whether seasonal forecasts were able to predict this circulation pattern. Despite the fact that the observed circulation anomaly did not project on to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), we find that forecasts starting in November did predict a high‐pressure anomaly over North‐Western Europe. We use two independent data sets, and methods, to probe the drivers of this circulation pattern. We find evidence for a Rossby Wave propagating out of the tropical Atlantic where there were anomalous local rainfall anomalies. This case study is another example of real‐time seasonal forecast skill for Europe and provides evidence for predictability beyond the NAO pattern.