Time Variation of 500 mb Height Fluctuations with Long, Intermediate and Short Time Scales as Deduced from Lag-Correlation Statistics

The time variation of Northern Hemisphere wintertime 500 mb height fluctuations with short, intermediate and long time scales is investigated, using lag-correlation patterns derived from time-filtered data. Fluctuations with short (2.5–6 day periods) time scales propagate eastward at a rate consistent with the notion of a steering level around 700 mb, which supports an interpretation in terms of baroclinic waves. The mobile teleconnection patterns associated with the intermediate (10–30 day periods) time scales exhibit a pattern of time variation suggestive a Rossby-wave dispersion, with a predominance of southward dispersion from middle latitudes into the tropics. The geographically fixed teleconnection patterns characteristic of the longer time scales do not show a well-defined pattern of time variation, but their horizontal structure resembles that of the fastest growing normal mode associated with barotropic instability of the climatological mean wintertime flow.