Tropical
Highlights - November 2019
During November
2019, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) were above-average across
the western and central equatorial Pacific and slightly below-average in the far
eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T18, Table T2). The latest monthly Niņo indices were -0.4°C for
the Niņo 1+2 region, +0.6°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 below-average
across the central equatorial Pacific and above-average in the eastern
equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1- 3°C above average in the eastern
equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during November, the
lower-level easterly winds were weaker than average (indicated by westerly
anomalies) across the equatorial Pacific (Table
T1, Fig. T20). The
upper-level winds were near-average over much of the equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Fig. T21). Meanwhile,
tropical convection was enhanced over the western equatorial Pacific and suppressed
over Indonesia and the central equatorial Pacific, just east of the Date Line (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