Pacific interdecadal climate variability: Linkages between the tropics and the North Pacific during Boreal winter since 1900

Simple difference maps between epochs of high sea level pressure over the North Pacific (1900-24 and 1947-76) and epochs of low pressure (1925-46 and 1977-97) are presented for numerous climate variables throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific region, including rainfall, cloudiness, sea surface temperature (SST), and sea level pressure.

The results support the notion that the Tropics play a key role in North Pacific interdecadal climate variability. In particular, SST anomalies in the tropical Indian Ocean and southeast Pacific Ocean, rainfall and cloudiness anomalies in the vicinity of the South Pacific convergence zone, stratus clouds in the eastern tropical Pacific, and sea level pressure differences between the tropical southeast Pacific and Indian Oceans all exhibit prominent interdecadal fluctuations that are coherent with those in sea level pressure over the North Pacific.