Linking Arctic sea‐ice and atmospheric circulation anomalies on interannual and decadal timescales

Abstract The relationship between Arctic sea‐ice concentration anomalies, particularly those associated with the “Great Salinity Anomaly” of 1968–1982, and atmospheric circulation anomalies north of 45°N is investigated. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analyses are performed on winter Arctic ice concentration from 1954 to 1990, sea level pressure and 500‐hPa heights from 1947 to 1994, and 850‐hPa temperatures from 1963 to 1994. Variability on both interannual and decadal timescales is apparent in the time series of the leading winter EOFs of all variables. The first EOF of winter sea‐ice concentration was found to characterize the patterns of ice variability associated with the Great Salinity Anomaly in the northern North Atlantic from 1968–82. Spatial maps of temporal correlation coefficients between the time series…