Tropical
Highlights - October 2023
During October
2023, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) remained well above-average across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T18).
The latest monthly
Niņo indices were +2.5C for the Niņo 1+2
region, +1.6C
for the Niņo 3.4 region and +2.0C for the Niņo 3 region (Table T2). The depth of the oceanic thermocline
(measured by the depth of the 20C isotherm) was above-average across the central
and eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-5C above-average in the far
eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during October, the
lower-level wind anomalies were westerly over much of the equatorial Pacific,
while the upper-level wind anomalies were easterly over the western and central
equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Figs. T20, T21). Meanwhile, tropical
convection was enhanced across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific and
suppressed over Indonesia (Fig. T25). Collectively, these oceanic and atmospheric
anomalies were consistent with strong El Niņo 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
