Tropical
Highlights - March 2021
During March
2021, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) remained below-average across the
central and eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig.
T18). The latest monthly Niņo indices were -0.3°C for
the Niņo 1+2 region, -0.5°C for the Niņo 3.4 region and -0.6°C for the Niņo 4 region (Fig. T5, Table T2). The depth of
the oceanic thermocline (measured by the depth of the 20°C isotherm) was below-average
in the eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-3°C below-average (Fig. T17).
Also during March, the lower-level easterly
winds and the upper-level westerly winds were above-average across much of the equatorial
Pacific (Fig. T20,
Fig. T21). Meanwhile, tropical convection
continued to be suppressed over the western and central equatorial Pacific (Figs. T25, E3). Collectively, these oceanic and
atmospheric anomalies were consistent with 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