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Seasons to YearsSome of the most dramatic progress in forecasting has taken place on the scale known as seasonal to interannual. It's impossible to foresee how day-to-day weather will take shape in that time frame. But forecasters can now make useful conclusions up to a year or more in advance about the likelihood of warmer, colder, wetter, or drier conditions than average.
NCAR scientists have also turned their attention to other ocean-atmosphere interactions that affect global climate for months at a time. One recent study explored a potential connection between sea-surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Atlantic and the development of El Niño in the Pacific. The tropical Atlantic may also play a role in the North Atlantic Oscillation, a highly variable pattern that affects wintertime temperatures and rainfall across the northeast United States, eastern Canada, and Europe. Yet another oscillation, this one affecting the spread of Arctic cold, may explain why many winters since 1980 have been unusually mild across much of the Northern Hemisphere. To study these and other climate cycles, NCAR uses long-range computer models and sophisticated statistical analyses. < previous | index | next >
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