Pacific/North American Pattern (PNA)
The PNA pattern is associated with strong fluctuations in the strength and location of the East Asian jet stream. The positive phase is associated with an enhanced East Asian jet stream and with an eastward shift in the jet exit region toward the western United States. The negative phase is associated with a westward retraction of that jet stream toward eastern Asia, blocking activity over the high latitudes of the North pacific, and a strong split-flow configuration over the central North Pacific.
The positive phase of the PNA pattern is associated with above-average temperatures over western Canada and the extreme western United States, and below-average temperatures across the south-central and southeastern U.S. The PNA tends to have little impact on surface temperature variability over North America during summer. The associated precipitation anomalies include above-average totals in the Gulf of Alaska extending into the Pacific Northwestern United States, and below-average totals over the upper Midwestern United States.
Although the PNA pattern is a natural internal mode of climate variability, it is also strongly influenced by the El Niño/ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon. The positive phase of the PNA pattern tends to be associated with Pacific warm episodes (El Niño), and the negative phase tends to be associated with Pacific cold episodes (La Niña).
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Current Conditions:
The daily PNA index correpsponds to the PNA patterns, which vary from one month to the next. Click here for the methodology used to calculate the daily PNA index.
The daily PNA index for the past 120 days. Each daily value has been standardized by the standard deviation of the monthly PNA index from 1950 to 2000 interpolated to the day in question.
Pacific/North American Pattern Observed & ENSM Forecasts
Source: https://www.cpc.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/pna/pna.shtml