An extreme drought event in the central Tien Shan area in the year 1945

Abstract

Moisture sensitive trees from the central Tien Shan area, northwest China show a pattern of extremely low growth in 1945. Evidence from a number of sources indicates that a remarkable drought event, in both spatial and temporal terms, occurred over the central Tien Shan and surrounding areas in that year. Climatological analysis reveals that this significant growth reduction is likely a combined effect of unusually dry and warm conditions. We also show that this extreme drought is associated with a La Niña or cold phase El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event. Meanwhile, cooler sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the northern Indian Ocean, particularly in the Arabian Sea, also appear to have contributed to this severe drought episode. Overall, our case study of 1945 extreme drought event in the central Tien Shan area suggests there might be a close link between extreme climate conditions in remote north central Asia and coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics in the tropics. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.