How Does Pacific Decadal Oscillation Affect Tropical Cyclone Activity Over Far East Asia?

We investigated the relationship between tropical cyclones (TCs) and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) over the western North Pacific (WNP) during 1982-2018, focusing on an area surrounding the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The frequency of TCs passing through this area (TCm) in the negative PDO phase was approximately 50% higher than that in the positive phase in September. Higher TC track density was observed around the Korean Peninsula and Japan in the negative PDO phase because the large-scale environments were favorable for TC activity. However, TCm and PDO were not related in August because the location of WNP subtropical high was not significantly different. In addition, large-scale environments, which were associated with TC activity, provided more favorable conditions in September than in August.

Automated summary

The study found that during the negative phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), the frequency and track density of tropical cyclones around the Korean Peninsula and Japan significantly increased, as the large-scale environments were favorable for tropical cyclone activity. In contrast, there was no such relationship during the positive phase, as the position of the subtropical high remained relatively stable.