THE MERIDIONAL FLUX OF EDDY SENSIBLE HEAT AT 700 MB IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE WINTER

Abstract

The long-term geographical distribution of the Northern Hemisphere winter, meridional eddy sensible heat flux has been studied for the period 1948–1987 using 700 mb grid-averaged temperatures and geopotential heights. The flux is calculated after the manner of van Loon (1976) and the long term average is compared to the variation over the winters of the period 1976–1987. Results indicate that while the winter mean total eddy flux possesses the same general characteristics associated with the long term climatological averages, significant changes have occurred over the regions extending from western North America to east Asia. These changes appear to reflect variations in both the transient and quasi-stationary fluxes, and are associated with the Pacific North American teleconnection pattern in its positive phase.