Tropical Highlights

  Table of Atmospheric Indices  (Table 1)

  Table of Oceanic Indices  (Table 2)

  Time Series

  Time-Longitude Sections

  Mean & Anomaly Fields

  Appendix 1: Outside Contributions

Tropical Highlights

JANUARY 2010

A strong El Niño persisted during January 2010, as the sea surface temperatures (SSTs) remained well above average across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (Fig. T18).  The latest monthly Niño-region SST indices were +1.6°C for the Niño-3.4 region and +1.4°C for the Niño-4 region. (Table T2, Fig. T5). The oceanic thermocline, measured by the depth of the 20°C isotherm, remained deeper than average across the equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16), with sub-surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific reaching +1°C to +5°C above average (Fig. T17).

For the latest status of the ENSO cycle see the ENSO Diagnostic Discussion at:   

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/index.html