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Simulation of the December 1998 Stratospheric Major Warming
Author(s) -
Manney G. L.,
Lahoz W. A.,
Swinbank R.,
O'Neill A.,
Connew P. M.,
Zurek R. W.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1999gl900516
Subject(s) - polar vortex , sudden stratospheric warming , climatology , global warming , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , polar , climate change , stratosphere , geology , physics , oceanography , astronomy
An atypically early major stratospheric sudden warming in mid‐Dec 1998 resulted in an abnormally warm and weak polar vortex through most of the 1998–99 winter. The first major warming in nearly 8 years, it was only the second major warming observed before the end of Dec, and strongly resembled the previous Dec 1987 major warming in several characteristics atypical of major warmings later in winter. 3D mechanistic model simulations reproduced most characteristics of the Dec 1998 major warming, including the magnitudes of zonal mean easterlies and temperature increases and the 3D evolution of the flow, paving the way for more detailed future studies of the mechanisms involved in this unusual event.