The tropical circulation in the Australian/Asian region -November 1992 to April 1993

A summary of the broadscale tropical circulation from 70°E to the date-line, for November 1992 to April 1993, is presented. Warm ENSO conditions persisted through the season, and there was an eastwards shift of the upward branch of the Walker circulation towards the date-line. Associated with this, rainfall across central and eastern parts of Australia was generally average to below average, and downmotion anomalies were evident over the southwest Pacific. The Asian north-east winter monsoon produced weaker than normal winds over east China and the South China Sea; however, the northeast trade winds extended strongly into the western Pacific during two periods. Each of these periods coincided with the east-ward movement of a broadscale intraseasonal oscillation from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific.