Persistent Variations in the East Asian Trough from March to April and the Possible Mechanism

The East Asian trough (EAT) profoundly influences the East Asian spring climate. In this study, the relationship of the EATs among the three spring months is investigated. Correlation analysis shows that the variation in March EAT is closely related to that of April EAT. Extended empirical orthogonal function (EEOF) analysis also confirms the co-variation of the March and April EATs. The positive/negative EEOF1 features the persistent strengthened/weakened EAT from March to April. Further investigation indicates that the variations in EEOF1 are related to a dipole sea surface temperature (SST) pattern over the North Atlantic and the SST anomaly over the tropical Indian Ocean. The dipole SST pattern over the North Atlantic, with one center east of Newfoundland Island and another east of Bermuda, could trigger a Rossby wave train to influence the EAT in March–April. The SST anomaly over the tropical Indian Ocean can change the Walker circulation and influence the atmospheric circulation over the tropical western Pacific, subsequently impacting the southern part of the EAT in March–April. Besides the SST factors, the Northeast Asian snow cover could change the regional thermal conditions and lead to persistent EAT anomalies from March to April. These three impact factors are generally independent of each other, jointly explaining large variations in the EAT EEOF1. Moreover, the signals of the three factors could be traced back to February, consequently providing a potential prediction source for the EAT variation in March and April.