The relationship between the subtropical ridge and Australian temperatures

The intensity and latitude of the subtropical ridge over eastern Australia is strongly associated with southeast Australian rainfall, particularly during the cool months of the year. We show that the subtropical ridge also exerts a strong influence on temperatures across much of Australia, with warmer daytime temperatures and more warm extremes across southern Australia when the subtropical ridge is stronger than average, which is largely independent of the relationship between the subtropical ridge and rainfall. A strong subtropical ridge is also linked to warmer than average minimum temperatures over southern Australia throughout much of the year, except from May to August when a strong ridge is associated with cooler mean minimum temperatures and an increased frequency of cool nights. This relationship, and the observed strengthening of the subtropical ridge during autumn and winter in recent decades, can partially explain the weaker warming trends in minimum temperatures in southeast Australia compared to elsewhere in the country over the period 1960-2016.

• Publication year

  2018

• Venue

  Journal of Southern Hemisphere Earth System Science

• Publication date

  2018-12-31

• Fields of study

  Geology, Geography, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.22499/3.6801.011
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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