Tropical
Highlights - April 2017
Sea surface temperatures (SSTs)
during April 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 +0.2°C for the Niņo 4 region, +0.3°C for
the Niņo 3.4 region, and +0.9°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 central and far eastern
equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16), and
the corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-2°C above average (Fig. T17).
Also during April, the
lower-level and upper-level winds were near average across the equatorial
Pacific (Table T1,
Fig. T20, Fig. T21).
Meanwhile, convection was slightly suppressed over the central equatorial
Pacific and enhanced over western equatorial Pacific (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
www.nws.noaa.gov
