Icelandic Low Cyclone Activity: Climatological Features, Linkages with the NAO, and Relationships with Recent Changes in the Northern Hemisphere Circulation

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Abstract
Output from a cyclone detection and tracking algorithm, applied to twice-daily sea level pressure (SLP) fields for the period 1966–93, is used to examine the characteristics of cyclone activity associated with the locus of the mean Icelandic low (IL), variability during extremes of the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO), and recent changes in relation to circulation over the Northern Hemisphere. Cyclone events within the climatological IL display a modest seasonal cycle with a winter maximum. However, winter systems are considerably deeper than their summer counterparts with much larger maximum deepening rates. During the cold season (October–March), IL cyclone intensities are typical of oceanic systems but exhibit lower maximum deepening rates. During the warm season (April–September), intensities are typical of Northern Hemisphere values with deepening characteristics similar to those for all extratropical oceans. Depending on the month, 10%–15% (13%–18%) of cyclone events in the IL region repres... Abstract Output from a cyclone detection and tracking algorithm, applied to twice-daily sea level pressure (SLP) fields for the period 1966–93, is used to examine the characteristics of cyclone activity associated with the locus of the mean Icelandic low (IL), variability during extremes of the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO), and recent changes in relation to circulation over the Northern Hemisphere. Cyclone events within the climatological IL display a modest seasonal cycle with a winter maximum. However, winter systems are considerably deeper than their summer counterparts with much larger maximum deepening rates. During the cold season (October–March), IL cyclone intensities are typical of oceanic systems but exhibit lower maximum deepening rates. During the warm season (April–September), intensities are typical of Northern Hemisphere values with deepening characteristics similar to those for all extratropical oceans. Depending on the month, 10%–15% (13%–18%) of cyclone events in the IL region repres...

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