The role of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation on medieval drought in North America: Synthesizing results from proxy data and climate models

► During medieval times persistent megadrought was ubiquitous for North America. ► This medieval megadrought closely related to AMO warm phases in the North Atlantic. ► Best match to reconstructions when both La Niña and warm phase AMO imposed. ► AMO effects must be considered with shorter time-scale factors such as ENSO or PDO. ► Local effects affecting land surface-atmosphere interactions also important.