Tropical clouds and precipitation can influence global weather and climate, including in areas that are remote from the tropics. One tropical phenomena that is known to influence higher latitude climate is the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), yet it is not the only phenomena that influences higher latitude climate and weather. The figure on the left shows the anomalous zonally averaged meridional overturning circulation and zonal winds associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO). The MJO influences the strength of Hadley cell, location of storm tracks, the frequency and location of Rossby wave breaking, and frequency of tropical cyclogenesis.
The slow timescale variability of the MJO (~30-90 days) provides a potential source of predictability in the higher latitudes. On the other hand, midlatitude wave trains can propagate into the tropics and trigger tropical convection.
A part of my research interests is to understand the role of tropical convective activity on global weather and climate. How much does the tropics influence weather variability in the midlatitudes? What would happen to the characteristics of extreme weather if the tropical convective activity changes with global warming? The forecast skill by current operational models is relatively low in the tropics. If we can improve the representation of the tropics in the models, how much improvement would we see in long-range forecasts in the midlatitudes?