Change of the wintertime SSTA variability over the West Pacific after the mid-1980s: Effect of the increasing El Niño Modoki

From 1949 to 2010, the EOF 1 of sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) over the West Pacific (WP) in the boreal winter shows a clear increase during the 1980s, which is associated with the increase in global SSTA. It is found that the characteristics of WP SSTA are different since the mid‐1980s. Before the mid‐1980s, the first EOF presents a dipole pattern associated with El Niño. After the mid‐1980s, EOF1 of WP SSTA captures a uniform SSTA variability over WP and is related to El Niño Modoki. Meanwhile, the dipole SSTA pattern captured by EOF2 is associated with the canonical El Niño. The generation of these two different SSTA patterns might be attributed to the different atmospheric responses to El Niño and El Niño Modoki. The impact of El Niño Modoki over the WP SSTA is significantly enhanced along with the increased occurrences of El Niño Modoki. The increasing intensity of WP SSTA variability has a similar period with that of El Niño Modoki. During El Niño Modoki, the central Pacific SSTA has a leading impact on the development of the WP SSTA by a Rossby wave response. July(0) to October(0) is suggested as a crucial period for the development of WP SSTA during El Niño Modoki. The increased wind speed and evaporation might be responsible for the formation of WP SSTA. After the negative SSTA established, the suppressed convection would counteract the impact of evaporation anomaly and prevent the decreasing of WP SSTA. Key Points The leading EOF mode of wintertime WP SSTA has changed after the mid‐1980s The El Niño and El Niño Modoki have different impacts on wintertime WP SSTA The impact of El Niño Modoki over the winter WP SSTA is increasing