Tropical
Highlights - January 2025
During January
2025, sea surface
temperatures (SSTs) were below-average across the
central and east-central equatorial Pacific (Fig. T18). The latest monthly Nino
indices were -0.2C for the Nino 1+2 region, -0.7C for
the Nino 3.4 region and -0.6C for the Nino 4 region (Table T2). The depth of the oceanic thermocline
(measured by the depth of the 20C isotherm) was below-average across the central
and eastern equatorial Pacific (Figs. T15, T16). The
corresponding sub-surface temperatures were 1-5°C below-average in the eastern
equatorial Pacific (Fig. T17).
Also during January, lower-level wind
anomalies were easterly over the western and central equatorial Pacific, while upper-level
wind anomalies were westerly over the central equatorial Pacific (Figs. T20, T21). Meanwhile, tropical convection was suppressed
around the Date Line and was enhanced over Indonesia (Fig. T25). Collectively, these oceanic
and atmospheric anomalies were consistent with La Nina 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