Tropical
Highlights - January 2019
Sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) remained above-average across
the equatorial Pacific during January 2019 (Fig. T18, Table T2).
The latest monthly
Niņo indices were +0.5°C for the Niņo 1+2
region, +0.5°C
for the Niņo 3.4 region and +0.7°C for the Niņo 4 region (Table T2,
Fig. T5). The depth
of the oceanic thermocline (measured by the depth of the 20°C isotherm) was above-average
across the central and much of the eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16), and the corresponding sub-surface
temperatures were 1-3°C above average (Fig.
T17).
Also during January, the lower-level
easterly winds were weaker-than-average (indicated by westerly anomalies) across
the equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Fig. T20), while the
upper-level westerly winds anomalies were above-average over the eastern equatorial
Pacific (Fig. T21).
Meanwhile, tropical convection was near-average over Indonesia and enhanced over
the central equatorial Pacific (Figs. T25, E3).
Collectively, these oceanic and atmospheric anomalies reflect a transition to
weak El Niņo conditions.
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
www.nws.noaa.gov
