Extension to the North Atlantic oscillation using early instrumental pressure observations from Gibraltar and south-west Iceland

Abstract

Early instrumental pressure measurements from Gibraltar and the Reykjavik area of Iceland have been used to extend to 1821 the homogeneous pressure series at the two locations. In winter the two sites are located close to the centres of action that comprise the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The extended ‘winter half-year’ record of the NAO enables recent changes in the record to be placed in the context of the period 1823–1996. The period since the early 1970s is the most prolonged positive phase of the oscillation and the late 1980s and early 1990s is the period with the highest values (strongest westerlies). The winter of 1995–1996 marked a dramatic switch in the index, with the change from 1994–1995 being the greatest change recorded from one year to the next since the series began in 1823. (The extended Gibraltar and Reykjavik monthly pressures and the NAO series can be found on the Climatic Research Unit home page, http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/.). © 1997 Royal Meteorological Society. Int.J.Climatol., Vol. 17, 1433-1450 (No. of Figures: 6 No. of Tables: 9 No. of References: 27)