The global response of the atmosphere to a persistent anomalous pool of warm sea surface temperatures in the extratropical Pacific Ocean is examined in terms of the meridional pole-to-pole profile of the zonally-averaged 600 mb surface for periods up to 90 days. Following an initial hydrostatic inflation of the isobaric surface in the latitude of the warm pool, effects spread poleward within the hemisphere, then begin to appear after about two to three weeks in high latitudes of the opposite hemisphere, but with little or no response in the tropics. The same sea temperature anomaly field generates a stronger response in winter than in summer, and a very different reaction when located in the Southern Hemisphere than when in the Northern Hemisphere. (Author)
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