Weather and Climate Dynamics Laboratory
Dr. Lei Wang
Assistant Professor
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Purdue University
Email: leiwang@purdue.edu
About me
I received my B.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from Ocean University of China in 2010 and my Ph.D. in Geophysical Sciences from The University of Chicago in 2016. My doctoral dissertation, Periodic Behavior of Finite-Amplitude Wave Activity in the Southern Hemisphere Storm Track (link and PDF), investigated the fundamental dynamics of the baroclinic annular mode (BAM) and its implications for atmospheric circulation, storm tracks, and precipitation patterns. Before joining Purdue, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University.
My research focuses on the fundamental dynamics and variability of midlatitude atmospheric waves, particularly their roles in shaping high-impact weather and climate extremes. I teach Physics of the Climate, Introduction to the General Circulation, Theory of Climate, and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics.
What is the Baroclinic Annular Mode, and why does It matter for extreme weather and the hydrological cycle?
The baroclinic annular mode (BAM) is a fundamental and leading mode of atmospheric variability characterized by quasi-periodic fluctuations in midlatitude storm-track activity on timescales of 20–30 days. As illustrated by satellite observations in my 2016 Ph.D. dissertation, BAM influences the spatial organization of precipitation: precipitation is more locally organized during a high-BAM state, whereas it is more zonally distributed and generally weaker during a low-BAM state. These observations highlight the importance of BAM for understanding the hydrological cycle and extreme weather.
News
Congratulations to Zhaoyu Liu for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation titled "On the Modulation of Midlatitude Rossby Wave Extremes in the Present and Future Climate." (2026/10)
Congratulations to Zachary Holder for successfully defending his M.S. thesis titled "Enhanced Occurrence of Springtime Extreme Precipitation Associated with Mesoscale Convective Systems Over the United States by Baroclinic Annular Mode." (2025/11)
Holder, Z., Hu, Y., Wang, L., Chavas, D., Feng, Z., & Leung, L. R. (2026). Enhanced occurrence of springtime extreme precipitation associated with mesoscale convective systems over the US by baroclinic annular mode. Geophysical Research Letters, 53, e2025GL120614. Link
Mahendra, N., Chilukoti N., Liu X., Chowdary J.S., Wang L., Huber M. (2026): Missing summer westerly jet barotropic governor effect explains climate models - observation discrepancies in the Indian monsoon trends. AGU Advances, e2025AV002173. Link
Wang, L., Lu J., Breeden M., Chen G., Henderson S., Narinesingh V., Simpson I., Woollings T., Hu Y., Lubis S. (2026): Gaps and Ways Forward in Atmospheric Blocking and Extreme Weather Research. Nature Communications 17, 2873. Link
He, C., Zhang L.N., Leung L.R., and co-authors including Wang L. (2025): Harnessing land-atmosphere interactions to enhance subseasonal-to-seasonal predictability. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) Link
Mahendra, N., Huber M., Wang L., Hunt K.M., Chilukoti N., Chowdary J.S. (2025): Stagnation of atmospheric circulation leads to historically-prolonged extreme rainfall event over northwestern India in August 2024. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. JGRD70062. Link
Liu, X., Zhang Y. G., Huber M., Chang P., and Wang L. (2025): Connecting warming patterns of the paleo-ocean to our future. AGU Advances . Link
Liu, Z., Wang, L. (2025). Blocking diversity causes distinct roles of diabatic heating in the Northern Hemisphere. Nature Communications 16, 5613. Link
Yan, X., & Wang, L., E. Gerber, V. Castaneda, K. Ho (2024). Traffic Bottlenecks: Predicting Atmospheric Blocking with a Diminishing Flow Capacity. Geophysical Research Letters, 51, e2024GL111035. Link
Liu, Z., & Wang, L. (2024). Enhanced occurrence of atmospheric blocking in the
Southern Hemisphere by Baroclinic Annular Mode. Geophysical Research Letters, 51,
e2023GL107343. Link
Castañeda, V. , & Wang, L. (2024). The role of climatological state in supporting US heat waves through Rossby waves packets. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129, e2023JD039212. link
Liu, Z., & Wang, L. (2023). Regional features of the 20–30 Day periodic behavior in the Southern Hemisphere summer circulation. Geophysical Research Letters, 50, e2023GL104256. Link
Kleiner, N., Chan, P. W., Wang, L., Ma, D., & Kuang, Z. (2021). Effects of climate model mean-state bias on blocking underestimation. Geophysical Research Letters. Link
Coumou, D., Di Capua, G., Vavrus, S., Wang, L., and Wang, S. (2018): The Influence of Arctic Amplification on Mid-Latitude Summer Circulation. Nature Communication. Link
Wang, L., Lu, J., and Kuang, Z. (2018): A robust increase of the intra-seasonal periodic behavior of the precipitation and eddy kinetic energy in a warming climate. Geophysical Research Letters. Link
Wang, L., and Nakamura, N. (2016): Covariation of finite-amplitude wave activity and the zonal mean flow in the mid-latitude troposphere. Part 2: Eddy forcing spectra and the periodic behavior in the Southern Hemisphere summer. Journal of Atmospheric Sciences. Link
Wang, L., and Lee, S. (2016): The role of fast eddies on poleward jet shift of non- advective mean flow. Journal of Atmospheric Sciences. Link
Wang, L., Jansen, M., and Abernathey, R. (2016): Eddy phase speeds in a two-layer model of quasigeostrophic baroclinic turbulence with applications to ocean observations. Journal of Physical Oceanography. Link
Wang, L., and Nakamura, N. (2015): Covariation of finite-amplitude wave activity and the zonal mean flow in the midlatitude troposphere. Part 1: Theory and application to the Southern Hemisphere summer, Geophysical Research Letters. Link
Nakamura, N., and Wang, L. (2013): On the Thickness Ratio in the Quasigeostrophic Two-Layer Model of Baroclinic Instability. Journal of Atmospheric Sciences. Link