Tropical
Highlights - September 2024
During September
2024, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) remained near average across most of
the equatorial Pacific (Fig. T18). The latest monthly Nino indices were -0.7C for
the Nino 1+2 region, -0.2C for the Nino 3.4 region and +0.3C 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 equatorial
Pacific (Figs. T15, T16).
The corresponding sub-surface
temperatures were 1-4C below-average in the eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during September, lower-level wind
anomalies were easterly over the east-central equatorial Pacific, while upper-level
wind anomalies were westerly over the eastern equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Figs. T20, T21). Meanwhile, tropical convection was slightly
suppressed around the Date Line and was near average over 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