Tropical
Highlights – July 2012
ENSO-neutral conditions continued during July
2012. The sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies
continued to increase across the central and
east-central equatorial Pacific, and SSTs in the eastern equatorial
Pacific remained warmer-than-average during the month (Fig. T18, Table T2). The latest monthly Niño indices were +0.6°C for
the Niño 3.4 region and +1.2°C for the Niño 1+2 region (Table
T2, Fig. T5). Consistent with these conditions, the depth
of the oceanic thermocline (measured by the depth of the 20°C
isotherm) remained near-average in the east-central equatorial Pacific and
above-average in the eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15,
T16).
However,
the equatorial low-level easterly trade winds remained slightly enhanced over the
west-central equatorial Pacific and slightly weaker than average across the
east-central equatorial Pacific (Table T1, Fig. T20). This pattern does not reflect a clear
atmospheric response to the positive SST anomalies. Enhanced convection was seen
across Indonesia and western equatorial Pacific (Figs. T25, E3), which is further indication
that the atmospheric circulation is not yet reflecting El Niño. Collectively,
these oceanic and atmospheric anomalies reflect 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