Title: Canadian Arctic weather system configuration related to the recent sea ice decline and heatwave of summer 2019

Authors: Farahnaz Fazel-Rastgar

Addresses: York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, M3J-1P3, Canada

Abstract: Average summer surface temperatures time series during 1948-2019 reveals higher positive slope for eastern Canadian Arctic rather than west with a peak in summer 2019, accompanied with recent Arctic sea-ice decline. This is associated with Greenland omega blocking high-pressure system. The Hovmöller diagram of 500 hPa geopotential height anomaly map shows 3 peaks during summer of 2019 in the eastern Canadian Arctic. Also, upper-level anomaly wind analysis shows the Rossby wave meridionally stretching. A regression statistical analysis shows a significant positive correlation between the eastern Canadian temperatures and Greenland blocking index.

Keywords: climate change; heatwave; Canadian Arctic; omega blocking high; Greenland blocking index; GBI.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGW.2020.110295

International Journal of Global Warming, 2020 Vol.22 No.2, pp.196 - 210

Received: 22 Feb 2020
Accepted: 11 Apr 2020
Published online: 13 Oct 2020 *

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