Tropical
Highlights - March 2018
Sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) during March 2018 remained below-average across the east-central and eastern equatorial
Pacific (Fig. T18,
Table T2). The latest monthly
Niņo indices were -0.1°C for the Niņo 4
region, -0.7°C
for the Niņo 3.4 region, and -0.8°C for the Niņo 1+2 region (Table
T2, Fig. T5). The depth of the oceanic thermocline
(measured by the depth of the 20°C isotherm) was above-average over the
east-central equatorial Pacific and below-average over the far eastern
equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16), and
the corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-2°C below average over the
far eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during March, the lower-level
wind anomalies were easterly across the eastern and east-central equatorial
Pacific while the upper-level westerly winds were above-average over the
eastern equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Figs. T20, T21). Meanwhile, convection was suppressed over the
east-central equatorial Pacific and enhanced across Indonesia and the western equatorial
Pacific (Figs. T25,
E3). Collectively, these oceanic
and atmospheric anomalies reflect weak La Niņa 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