DECADAL AND MULTIDECADAL NORTH-ATLANTIC SST ANOMALIES DRIVEN BY STANDING AND PROPAGATING BASIN-SCALE ATMOSPHERIC ANOMALIES

North Atlantic winter surface atmospheric circulation anomalies that v ary over decadal and longer periods are characterized by examining the life history;of individual anomaly features present from 1950 to 1992 . Individual features observed on surface pressure anomaly (PA) maps p ropagated to the east-northeast during the early to mid-1950s and to t he south from 1964 to 1984. Standing PA fluctuations were observed at other times. The nonstationary statistical properties of this atmosphe ric variability were not apparent in earlier studies because the stati stical analysis techniques used assumed stationarity or assumed the at mosphere was dominated by standing patterns of variability. Observed w inter sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) patterns that vary over d ecadal and longer periods were driven in part by these surface atmosph eric anomalies through the associated anomalous surface turbulent heat flux patterns. The ocean tends to be anomalously cold(warm) where the surface wind speed is anomalously large (small). Local atmospheric fo rcing of winter SSTA remains important out to longer periods than prev iously realized. Although SSTA appears to respond passively to this at mospheric forcing, a complete understanding of the ocean-atmosphere va riability documented here will require an understanding of processes r esponsible for driving the atmospheric circulation anomalies.