El Niño–Southern Oscillation-Independent Regulation of Western North Pacific Tropical Cyclone Genesis

Abstract

As the most significant interannual signal in the tropical Pacific, the influence of ENSO on the interannual variability in TC genesis location in the western North Pacific (WNP) has received much attention in previous studies. This paper mainly emphasizes the underlying SST factors independent of the ENSO signal and explores how they modulate interannual tropical cyclone genesis (TCG) latitude variability. Our study finds that the meridional sea temperature gradient (SSTG) between the Kuroshio Extension and the WNP still has a significant effect on the interannual variability in the TCG latitude after removing the effect of ENSO (r = 0.6). The interannual forecasts of the TCG latitude were effectively improved from 0.67 to 0.81 when the ENSO-independent SSTG and ENSO were regressed together in a multi-linear regression. We then propose an ENSO-independent physical mechanism affecting the TCG latitude. The equatorward (poleward) SSTG excited the positive (negative) Pacific–Japan telecorrelation pattern over the WNP, forming Rossby wave trains and propagating northward. A significant cyclonic vortex (anticyclonic vortex) with strong convective development (suppression) developed near 20° N, leading more TCs to the northern (southern) part of the WNP. These findings provide a new perspective for the prediction of the interannual variability in the TCG latitude.