The Emm Jay Oh

Main Features

Gibberish: "The Madden–Julian Oscillation is the largest element of the intraseasonal variability in the tropical atmosphere . . . is a large-scale coupling between atmospheric circulation and tropical deep convection" - Wikipedia

Translation: The MJO is a very large cluster of thunderstorm activity that can cover the entire tropical Indian Ocean basin at a single time. It moves eastward at (a whopping) 10 mph, which, together with the immense size of the MJO associated weather patterns, means that it takes roughly 50 days for the entire MJO to pass over a certain location.

Teleconnections
Gibberish: MJO tropospheric wind anomalies and poleward-radiating Rossby wave trains emitted from the MJO deep convective heat source can modify mid-latitude storm track, the onset and intensity of El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and the frequency of tropical cyclones.

Translation: Owing to a complex array of feedbacks between MJO thunderstorm activity and its surrounding environment (e.g., heating from condensation of rain), there is a large-scale wind pattern associated with the MJO that can be summarized as an overturning, with upward motion in the thunderstorm region. The components of this MJO flow pattern modify other atmospheric phenomena, including hurricanes, El Niño–Southern Oscillation, regional monsoons, and mid-latitude weather patterns. The figure to the right (taken from Wiki) shows how the MJO can result in heavy rain and flooding for the west coast of the US.

Current Understanding

Gibberish: Modeling and observational studies have demonstrated that an MJO-type convective anomaly is strongly dependent on the availability of moist static energy, and so processes associated with moisture transport, including sea-surface fluxes and horizontal advection, are vital to the maintenance of the MJO convective envelope.

Translation: The MJO thunderstorm cluster needs moisture (seems simple, doesn't it?). Though this concept is trivial, the concept of a large-scale thunderstorm cluster such as the MJO, including the vital processes controlling it's propagation and initiation remain somewhat of a mystery despite now several decades of intensive research by institutions across the globe. Hence the DYNAMO field campaign.

The Bottom Line . . .
The MJO modifies weather and climate locally (e.g., regions under direct impact of the MJO weather features) and remotely through a variety of complex teleconnections. These impacts, which are felt to one degree or another over most of the planet, deem it necessary to improve understanding of the MJO dynamic processes so that computer model forecasts of short-term weather as well as forecasts of future climate can be improved.

What's the scene in the Indian Ocean? DYNAMO is on it.

-Rupulin