Recent Arctic Cyclone Climatology from the Regional Arctic System Model (RASM)

The cyclone climatology for a domain covering the Arctic Ocean and land areas to 45°N is evaluated using a cyclone tracking algorithm applied to output from the Regional Arctic System Model (RASM). This climatology of Arctic cyclones is compared with Arctic climatologies in previous literature as well as that created using two modern reanalysis datasets: the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ (ECMWF) interim reanalysis and NOAA’s Climate Forecast System Reanalysis. The metrics evaluated include typical storm tracks for the region on both an annual and seasonal basis, areas of cyclone development and decay, cyclone depth, and Arctic cyclone energy index (Arctic ACE).