Dynamics of a 2L-baroclinic model of the troposphere. Part 2: impact of the zonal drift on bifurcations in the model

The paper presents results of numerical analyses related with assessment of the impact of mean zonal drift in the troposphere on the properties of the dynamics of a simple two-layer model of the baroclinic troposphere. It was proved that the model dynamics is mainly influenced by zonally differentiated surface temperature. It causes numerous bifurcations. They are often Hopf bifurcations of the second kind during which tropospheric states quite distant from the states before the bifurcations are generated. It significantly influences the model predictability. The paper contributes to the assessment of applicability of hydrodynamic models to weather forecasting for periods longer than two weeks.