The oceanic influence on the rainy season of Peninsular Florida Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

In this study we show that the robust surface ocean currents around Peninsular Florida, namely, the Loop and the Florida Currents, affect the terrestrial wet season of Peninsular Florida. We show this through two novel regional coupled ocean‐atmosphere models with different bathymetries that dislocate and modulate the strength of these currents and thereby affect the overlying sea surface temperature (SST) and upper ocean heat content. This study show that a weaker current system produces colder coastal SSTs along the Atlantic coast of Florida that reduces the length of the wet season and the total seasonal accumulation of precipitation over Peninsular Florida relative to the regional climate model simulation, in which these currents are stronger. The moisture budget reveals that as a result of these forced changes to the temperature of the upper coastal Atlantic Ocean, overlying surface evaporation and atmospheric convection is modulated. This consequently changes the moisture flux convergence leading to the modulation of the terrestrial wet season rainfall over Peninsular Florida that manifests in changes in the length and distribution of daily rain rate of the wet season. The results of this study have implications on interpreting future changes to hydroclimate of Peninsular Florida owing to climate change and low‐frequency changes to the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation that comprises the Loop and the Florida Currents as part of its upper branch. 2016 Grant no. NA12OAR4310078 Grant no. NA11OAR4310110 NOAA Modeling, Analysis, Prediction and Projections (MAPP) OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) CPO (Climate Program Office) Submitted https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD024824 Other 1954