Do CMIP5 models reproduce observed low-frequency North Atlantic jet variability?

Journal article

The magnitude of observed multi-decadal variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is at the upper end of the range simulated by climate models and a clear explanation for this remains elusive. Recent research shows that observed multi-decadal NAO variability is more strongly associated with North Atlantic (NA) jet strength than latitude, thus motivating a comprehensive comparison of NA jet and NAO variability across the CMIP5 models. Our results show that the observed peak in multi-decadal jet strength variability is even more unusual than NAO variability when compared to the model-simulated range across 133 historical CMIP5 simulations. Some CMIP5 models appear capable of reproducing the observed low-frequency peak in jet strength, but there are too few simulations of each model to clearly identify which. It is also found that an observed strong multi-decadal correlation between jet strength and NAO since the mid-19th century may be specific to this period.

Authors: Woollings, T; Bracegirdle, T; Lu, H; Eade, R

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Journal: Geophysical Research Letters
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 14
• Pages: 7204-7212
• Publication date: 2018-07-20
• Acceptance date: 2018-07-01
• DOI: 10.1029/2018GL078965
• EISSN: 1944-8007
• ISSN: 0094-8276
• Keywords: low‐frequency variability; tropospheric westerly jet; NAO; AMV; North Atlantic