UC Irvine

The composite analyses during 1950–2016 show that the impacts of El Niño on the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) are different among the Eastern Pacific type, Central Pacific type-I (CP-I), and Central Pacific type-II (CP-II). The three types of El Niño produce distinct impacts on WPSH due to the varying importance of the Northwestern Pacific coupling, Indian Ocean capacitor, and Maritime Continent mechanisms. The different enhancements and cancellations among these three mechanisms are related to differences in SST anomaly locations and Indian Ocean conditions among the El Niño types. The CP-II El Niño becomes the most influential type of El Niño, while the CP-I El Niño becomes the least influential type. The different impacts and mechanisms for the CP-I and CP-II types of El Niño imply that these two subtypes of CP El Niño may involve different forcing from the Indian Ocean and extratropical Pacific for their generation.