@article{Auestad:2025:10.1029/2025GL116437,
author = {Auestad, H and Shibu, A and Ceppi, P and Woollings, T},
doi = {10.1029/2025GL116437},
journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
title = {The latent heating feedback on the mid-latitude circulation},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2025GL116437},
volume = {52},
year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
AB  - Midlatitude storms transport warm and moist air poleward and upward, releasing latent heat. Latent heating is thus organized by the circulation but then modifies temperature gradients and winds, constituting a nonlinear feedback. We define the latent heating feedback as the effects that arise from latent heating being coupled with the circulation. Because of its nonlinearity, the climatic effects of this feedback are difficult to isolate and remain poorly understood. By decoupling latent heating from the circulation in an atmospheric general circulation model, we show that the latent heating feedback enhances storm track eddy diffusivity, modifying eddy heat fluxes beyond changes in mean baroclinicity. Simultaneously, tracked storms occur at lower latitudes, intensify more, and propagate further poleward, while the subtropical jet strengthens as coupled latent heating preserves lower latitude baroclinicity. The feedback response supports the idea that diabatic effects cause the “too zonal, too equatorward” storm track biases in climate models.
AU  - Auestad,H
AU  - Shibu,A
AU  - Ceppi,P
AU  - Woollings,T
DO  - 10.1029/2025GL116437
PY  - 2025///
SN  - 0094-8276
TI  - The latent heating feedback on the mid-latitude circulation
T2  - Geophysical Research Letters
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2025GL116437
UR  - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL116437
VL  - 52
ER  - 

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