ENSO and Sea Surface Temperatures
The equatorial Pacific remains in a neutral state
Anomalous equatorial SSTs continue to ease
The equatorial Pacific remains in a neutral ENSO state. Anomalous equatorial SSTs continue to ease, but are still higher than normal, especially in the west. The mean SOI for January was -1.3, and -0.3 for November to January. The NINO3 SST anomaly for January was about +0.6°C and NINO4 about +0.8°C (November to January are +0.6°C and +0.9°C, respectively).The trade winds have been near normal for much of January, apart from a westerly wind burst near the Date Line in the first half of the month. The wind burst may be related to a Kelvin wave that has developed on the thermocline, with a positive temperature anomaly in the central equatorial Pacific at about 150 m, and a negative anomaly further east.
Most of the global climate models indicate neutral conditions till autumn 2004 (with positive SST anomalies).
Sea surface temperature anomalies (°C) for January 2004
Mean sea surface temperatures (°C) for January 2004
