Tropical
Highlights - April 2019
Sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) remained above-average across
the equatorial Pacific during April 2019 (Fig.
T18, Table T2). The latest
monthly
Niņo indices were +0.1°C for the Niņo 1+2
region, +0.8°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 much of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16), and the corresponding sub-surface
temperatures were 1-3°C above average (Fig.
T17).
Also during April, the
lower-level easterly winds were stronger-than-average (indicated by easterly
anomalies) across the western and central equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Fig. T20). The upper-level wind anomalies were westerly
over the eastern equatorial Pacific and easterly over the western equatorial
Pacific (Fig. T21).
Meanwhile, tropical convection was enhanced over the central equatorial Pacific
and suppressed over Indonesia (Figs. T25, E3).
Collectively, these oceanic and atmospheric anomalies were consistent with El Niņo.
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