Tropical western Pacific regional cloudiness appears to form on its own schedule
Tuesday, May 7, 2013 - 08:00
in Earth & Climate
(Phys.org) —Tropical cloudiness has its own timeline. That's what researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found when they compared development of turbulent clouds to the timing of the atmospheric perturbation that rolls over the region every 60 to 90 days. Contrary to past assumptions, they found that the atmospheric phenomenon known as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO for short) does not directly influence the timing of specific rainfall events. Tall turbulent clouds drive rain in the region to change from drizzle to downpour at a faster pace.