LAUSR

Anticipating and mitigating wave-related hazards rely heavily on understanding wave variability drivers. Here, we describe wave conditions related to concurrent Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases during the austral summer. To identify such conditions, significant wave height ( H s ) and peak wave period ( T p ) daily anomalies were composited during different SAM–ENSO phase combinations over the last four decades (1979–2018). Surface wind anomalies were also composited to assist in the interpretation of wave conditions. The composites show significant wave variability across all ocean basins and in several semi-enclosed seas throughout the different SAM–ENSO phase combinations. The Southern, Indian, and Pacific Oceans generally experience the strongest T p anomalies during combinations of SAM phases with El Niño, and the weakest T p anomalies during combinations of SAM phases with La Niña. The anomalously large waves observed in the south-western Pacific, Tasman Sea, and the Southern Ocean, previously ascribed to ENSO conditions, seem to be instead associated with the SAM variability. SAM-related atmospheric conditions are found to be able to modulate the intensity of ENSO-related winds over the South China Sea, which, in turn, alter the magnitude of waves in that region. These and other wave anomaly structures described here, especially those contrasting the behaviour expected for a given ENSO phase, such as the one found along the California coast, stress the importance of understanding relationships between wave parameters and climate patterns interactions.