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Doblas-Reyes, F. J. Lienert, F. Soufflet, Y. Du, H. EU [FP7-ENV-2009-1-243964, FP7-ENV-2010-1-265192]; MICINN [CGL2010-20657]; Catalan Government Joan Ballester is greatly acknowledged for interesting discussions about our results. This work was supported by the EU-funded QWeCI (FP7-ENV-2009-1-243964), CLIM-RUN (FP7-ENV-2010-1-265192), the MICINN-funded RUCSS (CGL2010-20657) projects and the Catalan Government. The authors wish to thank the three reviewers for their fruitful suggestions. The authors thankfully acknowledge the computer resources, technical expertise and assistance provided by the Red Espanola de Supercomputacion (RES). 5 AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION WASHINGTON J GEOPHYS RES-ATMOS