Tropical
Highlights - August 2019
During
August 2019, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were below-average in
the eastern equatorial Pacific and above-average in
the western equatorial Pacific (Fig. T18, Table T2). The latest
monthly
Niņo indices were -0.4°C for the Niņo 1+2
region, +0.2°C
for the Niņo 3.4 region and +0.9°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 west-central equatorial Pacific and below-average in the eastern
equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 0-1°C above average in the west-central
equatorial Pacific, and 0-1°C below average in the eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during August, both the
lower-level easterly winds and upper-level westerly winds were near-average
across much of the equatorial Pacific (Table
T1, Fig. T20, Fig. T21). Meanwhile, tropical convection was suppressed
over Indonesia and near-average across the tropical Pacific (Figs. T25, E3). Collectively, these oceanic and
atmospheric anomalies reflected ENSO-neutral 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