Tropical
Highlights - February 2017
Sea surface temperatures (SSTs)
during February 2017 remained near-average over the central equatorial Pacific
and above-average in the eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T18, Table T2).
The latest monthly Niņo indices were -0.1°C for the Niņo 4 region, +0.1°C for
the Niņo 3.4 region, and +1.6°C for the Niņo 1+2 region (Table T2, Fig. T5).
The depth of the oceanic thermocline (measured by the depth of the 20°C
isotherm) was slightly above-average over the far eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs.
T15, T16), and the corresponding sub-surface
temperatures were 1-2°C above average (Fig.
T17).
Also during February, the
lower-level winds were near-average over the central equatorial Pacific and
slightly enhanced over the western equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Fig. T20).
Meanwhile, convection was suppressed over the central equatorial Pacific and
enhanced over Indonesia (Figs. T25, E3).
Collectively, these oceanic and atmospheric anomalies are 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