Tropical
Highlights - May 2017
Sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) during May 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 +0.3°C for the Niņo 4
region, +0.5°C
for the Niņo 3.4 region, and +0.8°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 near-average over the central
and eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16), and
the corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 0-1°C above average (Fig. T17).
Also during May, the lower-level and
upper-level winds were near average across most of the equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Figs. T20, 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