Improved simulation of the influence of the North Pacific Oscillation on El Niño-Southern Oscillation in CMIP6 than in CMIP5 models

The North Pacific Oscillation (NPO) is an important intrinsic atmospheric pattern over the North Pacific. Observations have shown that the boreal winter NPO is a crucial precursor to the El Ni & ntilde;o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with many ENSO events being preceded by the NPO. It is therefore imperative to assess the ability of current coupled climate models to reproduce the relationship between winter NPO and the subsequent winter ENSO. Previous studies have shown that most coupled climate models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) underestimate the influence of winter NPO on the subsequent winter ENSO. Simulations from CMIP6, representing the latest generation of climate models, are now available. This study shows a remarkable improvement of the CMIP6 models in simulating the influence of winter NPO on the subsequent ENSO development compared to the CMIP5 models. This improvement is due to the improved air-sea interaction over the subtropical North Pacific in CMIP6. The enhanced air-sea interaction over the subtropical North Pacific promotes the equatorward propagation of the NPO-induced wind and SST anomalies, resulting in enhanced surface zonal wind anomalies over the tropical western Pacific, which further exert a stronger influence on the subsequent winter ENSO development by triggering the tropical Bjerknes positive air-sea interaction. The enhanced subtropical air-sea interaction is thought to be related to a southward shift of the North Pacific intertropical convergence zone in CMIP6 compared to CMIP5.