Tropical
Highlights - February 2024
During February
2024, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) continued to decrease but remained well above-average across the equatorial Pacific (Fig. T18). The latest monthly
Niņo indices were +0.9C for the Nino 1+2
region, +1.5C
for the Nino 3.4 region and +1.5C for the Nino 3 region (Table T2). The depth of the oceanic thermocline
(measured by the depth of the 20C isotherm) was below-average across most of the
equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-5C below-average in the eastern
equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during February, lower-level wind
were near average over most of the equatorial Pacific, while upper-level wind
anomalies were easterly over the eastern equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Figs. T20, T21). Meanwhile, tropical convection was enhanced around
the Date Line and was suppressed over Indonesia (Fig. T25). Collectively, these oceanic
and atmospheric anomalies were consistent with weakening 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