87th AMS Annual Meeting

Wednesday, 17 January 2007: 8:30 AM
The impact of the MJO-bridging the gap between weather and climate
214C (Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center)
Alexis Donald, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Toowoomba, Qld, Australia; and S. M. Lennox, H. Meinke, and N. C. White
Poster PDF (590.3 kB)
The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) is a tropical atmospheric phenomenon, associated with periods of active convection in the eastern hemisphere tropics. The MJO's temporal scale (events happen at intervals from 22-90 days) coincides with a gap between weather and climate forecasts. Application of MJO data begins to address this gap. The RMM Index is an MJO proxy and indicates the amplitude and location (Phases 1-8) of MJO active convection. Analysis demonstrates that the MJO influences weather well beyond the tropics, on this intraseasonal timescale. We analysed global rainfall data (summer/winter rainfall patterns) with respect to the RMM Index phases of the MJO. Observed MSLP frequencies are at least partially explained by the MJO and advance a causal relationship between the tropical MJO and tropical and extra-tropical rainfall and MSLP anomalies.

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