Progress during TOGA in understanding and modeling global teleconnections associated with tropical sea surface temperatures

Abstract

The primary focus of this review is tropical-extratropical interactions and especially the issues involved in determining the response of the extratropical atmosphere to tropical forcing associated with sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies. The review encompasses observations, empirical studies, theory and modeling of the extratropical teleconnections with a focus on developments over the Tropical Oceans-Global Atmosphere (TOGA) decade and the current state of understanding. In the tropical atmosphere, anomalous SST force anomalies in convection and large-scale overturing with subsidence in the descending branch of the local Hadley circulation. The resulting strong upper tropospheric dive..