Large-Scale Sea Surface Temperature Forcing Contributed to the 2013-17 Record-Breaking Meteorological Drought in the Korean Peninsula

This study examined the contribution of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) to the record-breaking 2013-17 drought in the Korean Peninsula. The meteorological drought signal, measured by the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), in 2013 and 2016 co-occurred with a heat wave. The positive phase of the PDO during the mid-2010s was responsible for the precipitation deficit, particularly in 2014, 2015, and 2017, resulting in 5 years of meteorological drought. The enhanced atmospheric heating anomalies over the subtropical central Pacific, induced by the in situ PDO-related sea surface temperature (SST) warming, led to a low-atmospheric cyclonic flow centered over the midlatitude Pacific. The northerly wind anomalies at the western edge of this low-level cyclonic flow were responsible for the horizontal negative advection of moist energy, which contributed to the decreased precipitation and the resultant negative SPI over the Korean Peninsula in 2014, 2015, and 2017. The large-ensemble simulation supported the observational findings that the composited SST anomalies during the 5 years of persistent drought exhibited prominent and persistent SST warming over the subtropical central Pacific, along with large-scale cyclonic flow over the North Pacific. The findings of this study imply that the SST anomalies over the North Pacific and subtropical central Pacific can be a predictable source to potentially increase the ability to forecast multiyear droughts over the Korean Peninsula.

Automated summary

This study examined the contribution of the Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO) to the record-breaking drought in the Korean Peninsula from 2013 to 2017. The study found that the positive phase of the PDO during the mid-2010s led to a precipitation deficit, resulting in 5 years of meteorological drought. The enhanced atmospheric heating anomalies over the Pacific, caused by PDO-related sea surface temperature warming, played a key role in reducing precipitation over the Korean Peninsula.