Tropical
Highlights - October 2019
During October
2019, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) were below-average in the far eastern equatorial Pacific
and above-average across the western and central equatorial
Pacific (Fig. T18,
Table T2). The latest monthly
Niņo indices were -0.8C for the Niņo 1+2
region, +0.6C
for the Niņo 3.4 region and +1.0C for the Niņo 4 region (Table T2,
Fig. T5). The depth
of the oceanic thermocline (measured by the depth of the 20C isotherm) was above-average
across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific and below-average in the far
eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-2C above average in the central
and eastern equatorial Pacific, and 1-2C below average in the far eastern
equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during October, the
lower-level easterly winds were weaker-than-average (indicated by westerly
anomalies) over the eastern equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Fig. T20).
The upper-level wind anomalies were easterly over much of the equatorial
Pacific (Table T1,
Fig. T21).
Meanwhile, tropical convection was suppressed across Indonesia and the
west-central equatorial 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
www.nws.noaa.gov
