Will the Historic Southeasterly Wind over the Equatorial Pacific in March 2022 Trigger a Third-year La Niña Event?

Based on the updates of the Climate Prediction Center and International Research Institute for Climate and Society(CPC/IRI)and the China Multi-Model Ensemble(CMME)El Niño-Southern Oscillation(ENSO)Outlook issued in April 2022,La Niña is favored to continue through the boreal summer and fall,indicating a high possibility of a three-year La Niña(2020-23).It would be the first three-year La Niña since the 1998-2001 event,which is the only observed three-year La Niña event since 1980.By examining the status of air-sea fields over the tropical Pacific in March 2022,it can be seen that while the thermocline depths were near average,the southeasterly wind stress was at its strongest since 1980.Here,based on a quaternary linear regression model that includes various relevant air-sea variables over the equatorial Pacific in March,we argue that the historic southeasterly winds over the equatorial Pacific are favorable for the emergence of the third-year La Niña,and both the anomalous easterly and southerly wind stress components are important and contribute~50%of the third-year La Niña growth,respectively.Additionally,the possible global climate impacts of this event are discussed.

Evolution of Meteorological Conditions during a Heavy Air Pollution Event under the Influence of Shallow Foehn in Urumqi, China

The air pollution in Urumqi which is located on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains in northwestern China,is very serious in winter.Of particular importance is the influence of terrain-induced shallow foehn,known locally as elevated southeasterly gale(ESEG).It usually modulates atmospheric boundary layer structure and wind field patterns and produces favorable meteorological conditions conducive to hazardous air pollution.During 2013-17,Urumqi had an average of 50 d yr-1 of heavy pollution(daily average PM2.5 concentration>150μg m-3),of which 41 days were in winter.The majority(71.4%)of heavy pollution processes were associated with the shallow foehn.Based on microwave radiometer,wind profiler,and surface observations,the surface meteorological fields and boundary layer evolution during the worst pollution episode in Urumqi during 16-23 February 2013 are investigated.The results illustrate the significant role of shallow foehn in the building,strengthening,and collapsing of temperature inversions.There were four wind field patterns corresponding to four different phases during the whole pollution event.The most serious pollution phase featured shallow foehn activity in the south of Urumqi city and the appearance of an intense inversion layer below 600 m.Intense convergence caused by foehn and mountain-valley winds was sustained during most of the phase,resulting in pollutants sinking downward to the lower boundary layer and accumulating around urban area.The key indicators of such events identified in this study are highly correlated to particulate matter concentrations and could be used to predict heavy pollution episodes in the feature.