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

MARCH 2010

El Niño persisted during March 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 +1.1°C for both the Niño-3.4 and the Niño-4 regions. (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 +5°C above average in the eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).

Also consistent with El Niño, equatorial convection during March remained enhanced over the central and eastern Pacific and suppressed across Indonesia and western Pacific (Figs. T25, T26 and E3). While equatorial low-level easterly winds strengthened near the Date Line, the upper-level easterly wind anomalies persisted over the eastern equatorial Pacific during the month (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