Low‐frequency variability of the statistical moments of sea surface winds

Low‐frequency variability of the mean, standard deviation, and skewness of 6‐hourly zonal sea surface wind (u) is considered. It is found that, in general, the standard deviation of u decreases as the magnitude of the mean of u increases. Throughout most of the extratropics, the skewness of u decreases as the mean of u increases; in the tropics, the skewness of u is generally an increasing function of the mean. These relationships are explained using a simple stochastic boundary‐layer model with a nonlinear drag law.