EL NINO EPISODE-RELATED NH 100 hpa CIRCULATION ANOMALY

Investigation is carried out of winter Northern Hemisphere (NH) 100 hpa teleconnection, indicating the existence of a PNA pattern whose wavetrain well resembles that at 500 hpa level. During the climax of the EI Nino episode (winter), the 100 PNA becomes strong, a fact that manifests itself more clearly than at the 500 hpa level. Moreover, study is made of the anomaly in the tropical monthly windfield and mean circulation on a seasonal basis in a range of phases of the EI Nino event. Results show that the 100 hpa geopotential height is lowered on a large scale in the spring and previous winter with the event happening as compared to a La Nina year, wherewith diagnosis is performed of the 1991/1992 EI Nino episode.