Articles | Volume 4, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-61-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-61-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
13 Jan 2023
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 13 Jan 2023
| 13 Jan 2023
The role of Rossby waves in polar weather and climate
Tim Woollings
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Camille Li
Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Marie Drouard
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Instituto de Geociencias (IGEO), CSIC-UCM, Madrid, Spain
Etienne Dunn-Sigouin
NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway
Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Karim A. Elmestekawy
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Momme Hell
Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
Brian Hoskins
Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, Reading, UK
Cheikh Mbengue
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Climate Modeling Alliance, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Matthew Patterson
Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
Thomas Spengler
Geophysical Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
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Cited
25 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Long-term changes in the speed and direction of westerlies in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (MLNH) H. Asakereh & A. Jahedi
- The Summer North Atlantic Oscillation, Arctic sea ice, and Arctic jet Rossby wave forcing C. Folland et al.
- The control model of Rossby waves and dynamic characteristics in stratified fluids N. Cao et al.
- On the Dynamics and Stability of Envelope Rossby Solitary Waves Under the Topographic Geostrophic Approximation G. Cao et al.
- Evaluating Causal Arctic‐Midlatitude Teleconnections in CMIP6 E. Galytska et al.
- Tracking jet streams as Lagrangian objects L. Rivoire et al.
- Human-induced climate change amplification on storm dynamics in Valencia’s 2024 catastrophic flash flood C. Calvo-Sancho et al.
- Distinct tropospheric anomalies during sudden stratospheric warming events accompanied by strong and weak Ural Ridge C. Zhang et al.
- Physical mechanisms for the dominant summertime high-latitude atmospheric teleconnection pattern and the related Northern Eurasian climates J. Kim & K. Seo
- Movement of decaying quasi-2-day wave in the austral summer-time mesosphere C. Salinas & D. Wu
- Circulation responses to surface heating and implications for polar amplification P. Siew et al.
- Coupling regulation mechanism of the Coriolis force and topography in the evolution of nonlinear Rossby wave flow fields Y. Hu et al.
- Rossby waves under time-varying shear with the complete Coriolis force N. Liu et al.
- Influence of Barents Sea Ice in May on the West African Summer Monsoon and its possible mechanisms A. Datti et al.
- Dynamics and model representation of the boreal spring subseasonal variability over North America J. Hwang et al.
- The maintenance of coherent vortex topology by Lagrangian chaos in drift-Rossby wave turbulence N. Cao & D. Qi
- Influence of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings on the Migrating Diurnal Tide in the Equatorial Middle Atmosphere Observed by Aura/Microwave Limb Sounder K. Hocke
- Persistent warm and cold spells in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics: regionalisation, synoptic-scale dynamics and temperature budget A. Tuel & O. Martius
- Topographic Algebraic Rossby Solitary Waves: A Study Using Physics-Informed Neural Networks W. Zhang et al.
- The possible links between the Barents–Kara sea‐ice area, Ural blocking, and the North Atlantic Oscillation R. Ahmadi & O. Alizadeh
- RETRACTED ARTICLE: Long-Term Changes in the Speed and Direction of Westerlies in the Mid-Latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (MLNH) . Hossein Asakereh & . Arman Jahedi
- A machine learning framework for runoff simulation in small catchments: Integrating atmosphere–ocean–land large-scale indices and catchment variables C. Ma et al.
- Interactions of the Background State and Eddies in Shaping Aleutian Low Variations N. Lin et al.
- Attributing climate and weather extremes to Northern Hemisphere sea ice and terrestrial snow: progress, challenges and ways forward K. Ye et al.
- Representing the Teleconnection Between the Jet Stream and Extreme Cold Air Outbreaks Over North America T. Keel et al.
25 citations as recorded by crossref.
- Long-term changes in the speed and direction of westerlies in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (MLNH) H. Asakereh & A. Jahedi
- The Summer North Atlantic Oscillation, Arctic sea ice, and Arctic jet Rossby wave forcing C. Folland et al.
- The control model of Rossby waves and dynamic characteristics in stratified fluids N. Cao et al.
- On the Dynamics and Stability of Envelope Rossby Solitary Waves Under the Topographic Geostrophic Approximation G. Cao et al.
- Evaluating Causal Arctic‐Midlatitude Teleconnections in CMIP6 E. Galytska et al.
- Tracking jet streams as Lagrangian objects L. Rivoire et al.
- Human-induced climate change amplification on storm dynamics in Valencia’s 2024 catastrophic flash flood C. Calvo-Sancho et al.
- Distinct tropospheric anomalies during sudden stratospheric warming events accompanied by strong and weak Ural Ridge C. Zhang et al.
- Physical mechanisms for the dominant summertime high-latitude atmospheric teleconnection pattern and the related Northern Eurasian climates J. Kim & K. Seo
- Movement of decaying quasi-2-day wave in the austral summer-time mesosphere C. Salinas & D. Wu
- Circulation responses to surface heating and implications for polar amplification P. Siew et al.
- Coupling regulation mechanism of the Coriolis force and topography in the evolution of nonlinear Rossby wave flow fields Y. Hu et al.
- Rossby waves under time-varying shear with the complete Coriolis force N. Liu et al.
- Influence of Barents Sea Ice in May on the West African Summer Monsoon and its possible mechanisms A. Datti et al.
- Dynamics and model representation of the boreal spring subseasonal variability over North America J. Hwang et al.
- The maintenance of coherent vortex topology by Lagrangian chaos in drift-Rossby wave turbulence N. Cao & D. Qi
- Influence of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings on the Migrating Diurnal Tide in the Equatorial Middle Atmosphere Observed by Aura/Microwave Limb Sounder K. Hocke
- Persistent warm and cold spells in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics: regionalisation, synoptic-scale dynamics and temperature budget A. Tuel & O. Martius
- Topographic Algebraic Rossby Solitary Waves: A Study Using Physics-Informed Neural Networks W. Zhang et al.
- The possible links between the Barents–Kara sea‐ice area, Ural blocking, and the North Atlantic Oscillation R. Ahmadi & O. Alizadeh
- RETRACTED ARTICLE: Long-Term Changes in the Speed and Direction of Westerlies in the Mid-Latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (MLNH) . Hossein Asakereh & . Arman Jahedi
- A machine learning framework for runoff simulation in small catchments: Integrating atmosphere–ocean–land large-scale indices and catchment variables C. Ma et al.
- Interactions of the Background State and Eddies in Shaping Aleutian Low Variations N. Lin et al.
- Attributing climate and weather extremes to Northern Hemisphere sea ice and terrestrial snow: progress, challenges and ways forward K. Ye et al.
- Representing the Teleconnection Between the Jet Stream and Extreme Cold Air Outbreaks Over North America T. Keel et al.
Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 20 May 2026
Editorial statement
The paper by Tim Woollings et al. provides first a theoretical summary of the role of Rossby wave dynamics for polar variability, regarding the large-scale polar flow conceptually as a superposition of geostrophic turbulence and Rossby wave propagation, emphasising the key role of isolated vortices at high latitudes. In a second part, the paper addresses how comparatively weak Rossby waves can be triggered from high latitudes in the presence of a relative vorticity gradient as a direct response to sea ice loss, which often manifests as a heat low. The paper provides a well written and much needed foundation for an active area of research.
The paper by Tim Woollings et al. provides first a theoretical summary of the role of Rossby...
Short summary
This paper investigates large-scale atmospheric variability in polar regions, specifically the balance between large-scale turbulence and Rossby wave activity. The polar regions are relatively more dominated by turbulence than lower latitudes, but Rossby waves are found to play a role and can even be triggered from high latitudes under certain conditions. Features such as cyclone lifetimes, high-latitude blocks, and annular modes are discussed from this perspective.
This paper investigates large-scale atmospheric variability in polar regions, specifically the...
