Tropical
Highlights - September 2023
During September
2023, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) remained well above-average across the equatorial Pacific (Fig. T18). The latest monthly
Niņo indices were +2.8°C for the Niņo 1+2
region, +1.5°C
for the Niņo 3.4 region and +2.1°C for the Niņo 3 region (Table T2). The depth of the oceanic thermocline
(measured by the depth of the 20°C isotherm) was above-average across the central
and eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-5°C above-average in the far
eastern equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during September, the
lower-level and upper-level winds were near average over much of the equatorial
Pacific (Table T1,
Figs. T20, T21). Meanwhile, tropical convection was enhanced across
the equatorial Pacific and suppressed over Indonesia (Fig. T25). Collectively, these oceanic
and atmospheric anomalies were consistent with El Niņo 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