Seasonal dependence of stratospheric temperature variations

Abstract. Stratospheric temperatures show distinct trends, not necessarily monotonically upward or downward. At the North Pole, trends were large only during winter and spring and were different for different months; downward for November, December, mixed for January and upward for February, March and April. For the 10°-90°N belt, the trends were variable, viz., downward during 1971-1975, upward during 1975-1978 and downward again from 1978 onwards up to date, opposite to the upward trend of ground temperature in the Northern hemisphere in recent years. Twelve-monthly running averages revealed strong QBO (quasi-biennial oscillation). For the North Pole, the QBO showed colder (lower) temperatures during 50-mb wind QBO westerly phase maxima. For the 10°-90°N belt, the QBO was similar for 30 mb and 50 mb but the QBO phases did not match well with 50-mb wind QBO phases.