Relationship between Sea Level Pressures of the Winter Tropical Western Pacific and the Subsequent Asian Summer Monsoon

Using monthly mean National Center for Environmental Prediction/National Center for AtmosphericResearch (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis data for the period 1958-1996, based on a new circulation index inthe tropical western Pacific region, this paper investigates extreme winter circulation conditions in thenorthwestern Pacific and their evolution. The results show that the extreme winter circulation anomalyin the northwestern Pacific exhibits a strong association with those appearing in the high latitudes of theNorthern Hemisphere including the northern Asian continent, part of the Barents Sea, and the northeasternPacific. As the season progresses, an anticyclonic (cyclonic) circulation anomaly appearing in the north-western Pacific gradually moves northeastwards and extends westwards. Its axis in the west-east directionis also stretched. Therefore, easterly (westerly) anomalies in the southern part of the anticyclonic (cyclonic)circulation anomaly continuously expand westwards to the peninsula of India. Therefore, the South Asiansummer monsoon would be weaker (stronger). Simultaneously, another interesting phenomenon is theevolution of SLP anomalies. As the season progresses (from winter to the following summer), SLP anoma-lies originating from the tropical western Pacific gradually move towards, and finally occupy the Asiancontinent, and further influence the thermal depression over the Asian continent in the following summer.