Tropical
Highlights - June 2019
During
June 2019, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) remained above-average across
the equatorial Pacific, except for the far eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T18, Table T2). The latest monthly Niņo indices were -0.3°C for
the Niņo 1+2 region, +0.6°C for the Niņo 3.4 region and +0.8°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 slightly
above-average in the east-central equatorial Pacific and below-average in the
far eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 0-1°C above average in the
east-central equatorial Pacific and 1-4°C below-average in the far eastern
equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during June, both the
lower-level easterly winds and upper-level westerly winds were near-average
across the equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Fig. T20, Fig. T21). Meanwhile, tropical convection was enhanced over
the western and central equatorial Pacific (Figs. T25, E3). Collectively, these oceanic and
atmospheric anomalies reflected the continuation of 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