ENSO's influence on the Stratosphere

Recent work has shown clearly that ENSO has an effect on the climate of the wintertime stratosphere that is similar in magnitude to the effect of the QBO on stratospheric climate. This has been demonstrated not only in models, but also in two independent observational studies. The sense of the connection is that when ENSO is its warm state, northern hemisphere warmings are more likely and the stratospheric wintertime vortex is weaker. Possible mechanisms for this connection will be discussed.