Feature article
Ocean signals after the 1997–98 El Niño
Dr Melissa Bowen and Dr Phil Sutton, NIWA
A series of warm events occurred in the Southwestern Pacific after the unusually strong 1997-98 El Niño. In 1998, record sea surface temperatures were measured around New Zealand, coral bleaching took place on the Great Barrier Reef, and a warming trend in the Tasman Sea increased. At the beginning of 1998, a region of elevated sea surface temperature formed, stretching southwest from the Queensland coast past New Zealand (Fig. 1). These elevated temperatures persisted for most of 1998.