Tropical
Highlights - August 2020
During August
2020, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) were below-average across the
central and eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig.
T18). The latest monthly Niņo indices were -0.9°C for
the Niņo 1+2 region, -0.6°C for the Niņo 3.4 region and -0.2°C for the Niņo 4 region (Fig. T5, Table T2). The depth of
the oceanic thermocline (measured by the depth of the 20°C isotherm) was below-average
across much of the equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15,
T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-3°C below-average across the
central and eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig.
T17).
Also during August, the lower-level
and upper-level winds were near average across much of the equatorial Pacific (Fig. T20, Fig. T21). Meanwhile, tropical convection was suppressed
across the western and central equatorial Pacific, and was near average over Indonesia
(Figs. T25, E3). Collectively, these oceanic and
atmospheric anomalies were consistent with La Niņa 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