A MODELING STUDY OF NORTHWEST PACIFIC SSTA EFFECT ON PACIFIC STORM TRACK DURING WINTER^*

A T42L9 GCM integration is adopted to investigate in detail the effect of Northwest Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA)on the Pacific storm track(PST)during winter.Results show that warm(cold)Northwest Pacific SSTA can give rise to significantly increased(decreased)baroelinicity on the north side of the anomaly area and its downstream in such a way as to make the Pacific storm track strengthen(weaken)in its entrance where the 500 hPa synoptic perturbation height variance,kinetic energy,and low-level upward and poteward transient eddy temperature fluxes who exhibit similar features to those of mid-latitude barolinic waves in their developing phases,show great enhancement for the warm case,suggesting that the Pacific track can be reconstructed in its west side only as a result of an external forcing,viz.,warm Northwest Pacific SSTA during winter.