Tropical
Highlights - March 2025
During March
2025, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) were below-average across the
central and east-central equatorial Pacific and above-average in the western
and the far eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig.
T18). The latest monthly Nino indices were +1.2C for
the Nino 1+2 region, +0.1C for the Nino 3.4 region and -0.4C for the Nino 4 region (Table T2). The depth of the oceanic thermocline
(measured by the depth of the 20C isotherm) was below-average across the central
and east-central equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-2C below-average in the central
equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during March, lower-level wind
anomalies were easterly over the western and central equatorial Pacific, while upper-level
wind anomalies were westerly over the central equatorial Pacific (Figs. T20, T21). Meanwhile, tropical convection was suppressed
around the Date Line and was enhanced near Indonesia (Fig. T25). Collectively, these oceanic
and atmospheric anomalies were consistent with 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