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Abstract. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is known to modulate the strength and frequency of stratosphere-to-troposphere transport (STT) of ozone over the Pacific–North American region during late winter to early summer. Dynamical processes that have been proposed to account for this variability include variations in the amount of ozone in the lowermoststratosphere that is available for STT and tropospheric circulation-relatedvariations in the frequency and geographic distribution of individual STTevents. Here we use a large ensemble of Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model(WACCM) simulations (forced by sea-surface temperature (SST) boundaryconditions consistent with each phase of ENSO) to show that variability inlower-stratospheric ozone and shifts in the Pacific tropospheric jetconstructively contribute to the amount of STT of ozone in the NorthAmerican region during both ENSO phases. In terms of stratosphericvariability, ENSO drives ozone anomalies resembling the Pacific–NorthAmerican teleconnection pattern that span much of the lower stratospherebelow 50 hPa. These ozone anomalies, which dominate over other ENSO-drivenchanges in the Brewer–Dobson circulation (including changes due to both thestratospheric residual circulation and quasi-isentropic mixing), stronglymodulate the amount of ozone available for STT transport. As a result,during late winter (February–March), the stratospheric ozone response to theteleconnections constructively reinforces anomalous ENSO-jet-driven STT ofozone. However, as ENSO forcing weakens as spring progresses into summer(April–June), the direct effects of the ENSO-jet-driven STT transportweaken. Nevertheless, the residual impacts of the teleconnections on theamount of ozone in the lower stratosphere persist, and these anomalies inturn continue to cause anomalous STT of ozone. These results should provehelpful for interpreting the utility of ENSO as a subseasonal predictor ofboth free-tropospheric ozone and the probability of stratospheric ozoneintrusion events that may cause exceedances in surface air qualitystandards. 

Abstract. Forecasts of Pacific jet variability are used to predictstratosphere-to-troposphere transport (STT) and tropical-to-extratropicalmoisture export (TME) during boreal spring over the Pacific–North Americanregion. A retrospective analysis first documents the regionality of STT andTME for different Pacific jet patterns. Using these results as a guide,Pacific jet hindcasts, based on zonal-wind forecasts from the European Centrefor Medium-Range Weather Forecasting Integrated Forecasting System, areutilized to test whether STT and TME over specific geographic regions may bepredictable for subseasonal forecast leads (3–6 weeks ahead of time). Largeanomalies in STT to the mid-troposphere over the North Pacific, TME to thewest coast of the United States, and TME over Japan are found to have the bestpotential for subseasonal predictability using upper-level wind forecasts. STTto the planetary boundary layer over the intermountain west of the UnitedStates is also potentially predictable for subseasonal leads but likely onlyin the context of shifts in the probability of extreme events. While STT andTME forecasts match verifications quite well in terms of spatial structure andanomaly sign, the number of anomalous transport days is underestimatedcompared to observations. The underestimation of the number of anomaloustransport days exhibits a strong seasonal cycle, which becomes steadily worseas spring progresses into summer.