Abrupt termination of Indian Ocean dipole events in response to intraseasonal disturbances

We have investigated the role of atmospheric intraseasonal disturbances on termination of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) using multiple datasets. We observed significant 30–60 day atmospheric disturbances associated with equatorial westerly zonal winds prior to termination of all IOD events except for the 1982 and 1997 events. The westerlies excite anomalous downwelling Kelvin waves that terminate the basin‐wide coupled processes by warming the eastern Indian Ocean. The 1982 and 1997 IOD events coincide with the strongest El Niño events; during those years the intraseasonal disturbances are weak.