Aleutian Low

Short description: Semi-permanent low-pressure system located near the Aleutian Islands

A large Aleutian Low in the Gulf of Alaska on October 24, 2011

The Aleutian Low is a semi-permanent low-pressure system located near the Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea during the Northern Hemisphere winter, driven by warm sea water compared to cooler land. It is a climatic feature centered near the Aleutian Islands measured based on mean sea-level pressure. It is one of the largest atmospheric circulation patterns in the Northern Hemisphere and represents one of the "main centers of action in atmospheric circulation."[1]

## Classification

The Aleutian Low heavily influences the path and strength of cyclones. Extratropical cyclones which form in the sub-polar latitudes in the North Pacific typically slow down and reach maximum intensity in the area of the Aleutian Low. Tropical cyclones that form in the tropical and equatorial regions of the Pacific can veer northward and get caught in the Aleutian Low. This is usually seen in the later summer months. Both the November 2011 Bering Sea cyclone and the November 2014 Bering Sea cyclone were extratropical cyclones that had dissipated and restrengthened when the systems entered the Aleutian Low region. The storms are remembered and marked as two of the strongest storms to impact the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands with pressure dropping below 950 mb in each system. The magnitude of the low pressure creates an extreme atmospheric disturbance, which can cause other significant shifts in weather. Following the November 2014 Bering Sea cyclone, a huge cold wave, November 2014 North American cold wave, hit the US bringing record breaking low temperatures to many states.

## Effects

The low serves as an atmospheric driver for low-pressure systems, post-tropical cyclones and their remnants and can generate strong storms that impact Alaska and Canada. Intensity of the low is strongest in the winter and almost completely dissipates in the summer. The circulation pattern is measured based on averages of synoptic features help mark the locations of cyclones and their paths over a given time period. However, there is significant variability in these measurements. The circulation pattern shifts during the Northern Hemisphere summer when the North Pacific High takes over and breaks apart the Aleutian Low. This high-pressure circulation pattern strongly influences tropical cyclone paths. The presence of the Eurasian and North American continents prevent a continuous belt of low pressure from developing in the Northern Hemisphere sub-polar latitudes, which would mirror the circumpolar belt of low pressure and frequent storms in the Southern Ocean.[2] However, the presence of the continents disrupts this motion, and the subpolar belt of low pressure is well developed only in the North Pacific (the Aleutian Low) and the North Atlantic (the Icelandic Low, which is located between Greenland and Iceland[3]). The strength of the Aleutian Low has been proposed as a driving factor in determining primary production in the water column and, in turn, impacting the catch in the salmon fishery.[4][5]

## References

1. ↑ Rodionov, S.N.; Bond, N.A.; Overland, J.E. (November 2007). "The Aleutian Low, storm tracks, and winter climate variability in the Bering Sea". Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography 54 (23–26): 2560–2577. doi:10.1016/j.dsr2.2007.08.002. Bibcode: 2007DSRII..54.2560R.
2. ↑ Sinclair, Mark (1997). "Objective identification of cyclones and their circulation intensity, and climatology". Weather and Forecasting 12 (3): 595–612. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(1997)012<0595:OIOCAT>2.0.CO;2. Bibcode: 1997WtFor..12..595S.
3. ↑ Serreze, Mark; Carse, Fiona; Barry, Roger G; Rogers, Jeffery C (1997). "Icelandic Low cyclone activity: Climatological features, linkages with the NAO, and relationships with recent changes in the Northern Hemisphere circulation". Journal of Climate 10 (3): 455. doi:10.1175/1520-0442(1997)010<0453:ilcacf>2.0.co;2. Bibcode: 1997JCli...10..453S.
4. ↑ Gargett, Ann E. (1997). "The optimal stability 'window': a mechanism underlying decadal fluctuations in North Pacific salmon stocks?" (in en). Fisheries Oceanography 6 (2): 109–117. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2419.1997.00033.x. ISSN 1365-2419. Bibcode: 1997FisOc...6..109G. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1365-2419.1997.00033.x.
5. ↑ Gargett, Ann E. (1997). "Physics to Fish: Interactions Between Physics and Biology on a Variety of Scales". Oceanography 10 (3): 128–131. doi:10.5670/oceanog.1997.05. ISSN 1042-8275.

* C.Michael Hogan. 2011. Gulf of Alaska. Topic ed. P.Saundry. Ed.-in-chief C.J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National council for Science and the Environment.

* v
* t
* e

Cyclones and anticyclones of the world (Centers of action)

Concepts|

* Anticyclonic storm
* Storm
* High-pressure area
* Low-pressure area
* Rapid intensification
* Central dense overcast
* Annular tropical cyclone
* Bar (tropical cyclone)
* Superstorm
* Hypercane

Anticyclone|

| Northern Hemisphere|

* North Polar High
* Siberian High
* Azores High
* North American High
* North Pacific High
* Ridiculously Resilient Ridge
* Subtropical ridge

|

Southern Hemisphere|

* South Polar High
* South Atlantic High
* South Pacific High
* Kalahari High
* Subtropical ridge

Cyclone|

| Synoptic scale|

| Surface-based|

| Polar|

* North Polar low
* South Polar low

|

* v
* t
* e

Extratropical cyclones

Concepts|

* Anticyclonic storm
* Storm
* Cyclone
* Post-tropical cyclone
* Low-pressure area
* Weather bomb
* Sting jet
* List
* Rainband

Northern Hemisphere|

| North America|

| Continental|

| Lee Cyclone|

* Alberta clipper
* Colorado low
* Great basin low

|

Other|

* Panhandle hook
* Witch of November

Oceanic|

* Aleutian Low
* Hatteras low
* Nor'easter
* Gulf low
* Pacific Northwest windstorm

Europe|

* v
* t
* e

European windstorms

Historical|

* Grote Mandrenke
* Burchardi flood
* Great Storm of 1703
* Great Storm of 1824
* Night of the Big Wind
* Moray Firth fishing disaster
* Tay Bridge disaster
* Eyemouth disaster

20th century|

* Iberia 1941
* North Sea flood of 1953
* Hurricane Debbie 1961
* North Sea flood of 1962
* 1968 Scotland storm
* Quimburga 1972
* Gale of January 1976
* December 1981 windstorm
* Ex-Hurricane Charley 1986
* Great Storm of 1987
* Burns' Day storm 1990
* New Year's Day Storm 1992
* Braer Storm of January 1993
* Christmas Eve storm 1997
* Boxing Day Storm of 1998
* Anatol 1999
* Lothar and Martin 1999

2000s|

* Oratia 2000
* Jeanett 2002
* Gudrun 2005
* Per 2007
* Kyrill 2007
* Emma 2008
* Klaus 2009
* Xynthia 2010
* Berit 2011
* Friedhelm/Bawbag 2011
* Joachim 2011
* Dagmar 2011
* Andrea 2012
* St Jude 2013
* Xaver 2013
* Dirk 2013
* Tini 2014
* Elon and Felix 2015
* Niklas 2015
* Egon 2017
* Thomas (Doris) 2017
* Zeus 2017
* Xavier 2017
* Ophelia 2017
* Herwart 2017
* Eleanor (Burglind) 2018
* Friederike (David) 2018

2015–present|

* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20

See also|

* List of European windstorms
* List of atmospheric pressure records in Europe

Other|

* Black Sea storms
* Icelandic Low
* Genoa low

Asia|

* Western Disturbance
* Continental North Asian storms
* East Asian-northwest Pacific storms

Other areas|

* Arctic
* Kona storm

Southern Hemisphere|

| Australia|

* Australian east coast low
* Black nor'easter

|

Other areas|

* Southern Ocean cyclone
* Sudestada

Subtropical|

* Kona storm
* Australian east coast Low
* Lake Huron cyclone
* Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone
* Thermal

Tropical
(List)|

| Northern Hemisphere|

* Atlantic hurricane
* Cape Verde hurricane
* Pacific hurricane
* Typhoon
* North Indian Ocean tropical cyclone
* Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone

|

Southern Hemisphere|

* South-West Indian Ocean tropical cyclone
* Australian region tropical cyclone
* South Pacific tropical cyclone
* South Atlantic tropical cyclone

Upper level|

* Cold-core low
* Polar vortex
* Upper tropospheric cyclonic vortex

Mesoscale|

| Mesoscale ocean eddies|

* Catalina eddy
* Haida Eddies

|

Mesoscale convective system|

* Wake Low
* Mesohigh
* Mesoscale convective vortex
* Line echo wave pattern

Whirlwind|

| Major|

* Mesocyclone
* Supercell
* Low-topped supercell
* Wall cloud
* Funnel cloud
* Tornado
* Multiple-vortex tornado
* Satellite tornado
* Anticyclonic tornado
* Landspout
* Waterspout

|

Minor|

* Gustnado
* Dust devil
* Steam devil
* Fire whirl

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian Low. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Earth:Aleutian_Low&oldid=4160542"
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template