ENSO Teleconnections and the North Atlantic Ocean An Exercise in Correlation

• We are familiar with the mean state: • Strong trades push warm waters to the western Pacific • Cool water is upwelled in the eastern Pacific • The thermocline slopes from deepest in west to shallowest in east • BUT: El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) can occur, forcing the system into an anomalous state. • Trades weaken, westerly wind bursts push warm water & rain to the east. • Teleconnections have far-reaching effects. 3 • By calculating the correlation between timeseries, I hope to: – Gain a better understanding of the geophysical processes that allow ENSO events to be felt thousands of kilometers away. – Make a few hypotheses in support of these correlations 4 Methodology • If processes in the Pacific have an effect on the North Atlantic, correlation between the regions should be fairly robust. • I compare the NINO3.4 SSTA timeseries with timeseries of observations in the North Atlantic