Tropical Highlights
FEBRUARY 2010
Forecast Forum
El
Niņo persisted during February
2010, as the sea surface temperatures
(SSTs) remained well above average across the central and eastern equatorial
Pacific Ocean (Fig.
T18).
The latest monthly SST indices were +1.2°C for the Niņo-3.4
region and +1.1°C for the Niņo-4 region. (Table
T2, Fig. T5).
Consistent with this warmth, the
oceanic thermocline (measured by the depth of the 20°C
isotherm) remained deeper than average across the central and eastern equatorial
Pacific (Figs. T15, T16),
with sub-surface temperatures reaching +1°C to +4°C
above average (Fig. T17).
Also
consistent with El Niņo, equatorial convection during February remained
enhanced over the central and eastern Pacific and suppressed across Indonesia
and western Pacific (Figs. T25,
T26 and E3).
Low-level westerly and upper-level easterly wind anomalies also persisted over
the equatorial Pacific (Table T1,
Figs. T20
and T21).
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
|