Strong activity of the Orinoco Low-Level Jet and its association with moisture transport in northern South America

We classified events of extreme Orinoco Low-Level Jet (OLLJ) activity using the ERA5 time series of daily winds at 925 hPa averaged over the 6°S–8°N/67°W–69°W area for the period 1981-2019. This area exhibits an overall mean of 3.7 m/s easterly wind speed and an overall standard deviation of 3.5 m/s. Then, during December-January-February (June-July-August), the season of strong (weak) OLLJ activity, we defined the events below (above) one standard deviation from the overall mean. Hence, days with easterly wind speeds higher than 7.2 m/s are considered events with strong activity during DJF. In contrast, days with westerly wind speed higher than 0.2 m/s are the events with weak activity during JJA. A composite analysis of precipitation from CHIRPS dataset during the days classified as strong or weak OLLJ activity showed that during the most active period (DJF), daily precipitation values are close to 0 mm/day; except for increased precipitation in the border between Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. In contrast, precipitation composites during the period of non-activity of the OLLJ (JJA), showed that precipitation increases in the range 5–10 mm/day along the OLLJ corridor. A detailed analysis of the precipitation time series used for composite analysis indicates that the probability of precipitation during DJF (JJA) is less (more) than 20% (80%) over Venezuela and the Guianas. In terms of advective water transport (qV) during the most active events of the OLLJ water is transported from the Tropical Atlantic towards northern South America through the OLLJ corridor, whilst during the less active events water transport along the OLLJ corridor comes from the north Amazon basin towards northern South America. In conclusion, during DJF the OLLJ is associated with the northerly cross-equatorial flow and dry season, whereas during JJA the southerly cross-equatorial flow from the Amazon river basin predominates, which contributes to the rainy season over the Orinoco region.