Articles | Volume 29, issue 20
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-5737-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-5737-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
24 Oct 2025
Research article |
| 24 Oct 2025
| 24 Oct 2025
Interdecadal rainfall cycles in spatially coherent global regions and their relationship to the climate modes
Tobias F. Selkirk
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Australia
Andrew W. Western
Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Australia
J. Angus Webb
Department of Infrastructure Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3010, Australia
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Short summary
This study finds three cycles in yearly rainfall worldwide of approximately 13, 20 and 28 years. The cycles rise and fall together across continents and also appear in the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a major climate driver of rain. However the signal in ENSO is too small to explain the strong local influence, the results point to another, still-unknown force that may shape both the climate modes and global rainfall.
This study finds three cycles in yearly rainfall worldwide of approximately 13, 20 and 28 years....
