Teleconnection

A teleconnection is a statistical linkage between climate anomalies in widely separated regions, communicated by atmospheric wave trains or ocean pathways rather than local forcing. ENSO is the canonical source: warm eastern Pacific SST shifts tropical convection and launches Rossby wave trains, such as the Pacific-North American pattern, that alter weather across North America. The NAO, PDO, and IOD are recurrent teleconnection patterns identified by empirical orthogonal functions or one-point correlation maps. Teleconnections give seasonal forecasts much of their skill by tying a known ocean state to remote rainfall and temperature.