Island Climate Update

A monthly summary of the climate in the tropical South Pacific islands, with an outlook for the coming months. This bulletin is a multi-national project with collaboration from a number of Pacific nations and support from various organisations.

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Issues

Island Climate Update 236 - May 2020

Trade winds during April were slightly stronger than normal along the equator. This pattern is expected to continue over the next 1 2 months, most likely leading to continued cooling in the west central Pacific.

Island Climate Update 235 - April 2020

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions continued during March 2020. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was 0.5.

Island Climate Update 234 - March 2020

El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions continued during February 2020. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was 0.2.

Island Climate Update 233 - February 2020

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions continued during January 2020. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was +0.2, the first positive monthly value since December 2018.

Island Climate Update 232 - January 2020

El Nino –Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions continued during December 2019. Both the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) remained on the El Niño side of neutral but weakened compared to previous months.

Island Climate Update 231 - December 2019

ENSO-neutral conditions continued during November 2019, although the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) dipped into El Niño territory and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were on the El Niño side of neutral.

Island Climate Update 230 - November 2019

ENSO-neutral conditions continued during October 2019, although the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were on the El Niño side of neutral.

Island Climate Update 229 - October

Upper-oceanic heat content anomalies continued to decrease in the eastern and east-central equatorial Pacific during September. The core of the warm pool that had been associated with a central Pacific El Niño earlier in the year was located just west of the International Dateline.

Island Climate Update 228 - September

Upper-oceanic heat content anomalies continued to decrease, but remained slightly above average in the west-central equatorial Pacific.

Island Climate Update 227 - August 2019

During July 2019, SSTs dipped below El Niño thresholds in the central Pacific for the first time in 5 months.

Island Climate Update 226 - July 2019

During June 2019, the atmosphere continued to respond to a warm pool of water in the central and western Pacific, with above normal rainfall and cloud centred along and just west of the International Dateline.

Island Climate Update 225 - June 2019

During May 2019, the atmosphere continued to respond to a warm pool of water in the central and western Pacific.

Island Climate Update 224 - May 2019

During April 2019, the atmosphere once again responded to a warm pool of water in the central and western Pacific, withabove normal rainfall and cloud centred along and just west of the International Dateline

Island Climate Update 223 - April 2019

Warmer than average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) now cover the tropical Pacific uniformly, a sign of a strengthening oceanic El Niño event.

Island Climate Update 222 - March 2019

Over the past month, Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) remained above average in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, particularly near and just west of the International Dateline. The NINO3.4 index SST anomalies however remained just below +0.5 ̊C during February 2019.

Island Climate Update 221 - February 2019

Over the past month, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central Pacific have remained above normal particularly near and west of the International Dateline, although declined slightly below the conventional threshold for El Niño.

Island Climate Update 220 - January 2019

Over the past month, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central Pacific have remained above normal with the NINO3.4 index anomalies currently exceeding +0.8°C

Island Climate Update 219 - December 2018

Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the east-central tropical Pacific have reached weak El Niño conditions.

Island Climate Update 218 - November 2018

Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central Pacific (NINO3.4 Index) warmed notably over the past month, increasing from an anomaly of +0.25°C in September to +0.75°C in October.

Island Climate Update 217 - October 2018

For the sixth consecutive month, ENSO-neutral conditions persisted across the tropical Pacific.

Island Climate Update 216 - September 2018

For the fifth consecutive month, ENSO-neutral conditions persisted across the tropical Pacific. However, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the vicinity of the Dateline continued to warm during August 2018. Preliminarily, the NINO4 Index is now on the El Niño side of neutral at +0.61°C (was +0.45°C last month) but the NINO3.4 Index remained in the neutral range at +0.28°C (was +0.47°C last month).

Island Climate Update 215 - August 2018

El Niño – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions continued across the tropical Pacific during July 2018. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central equatorial Pacific warmed for the fourth consecutive month and are currently slightly above average. The NINO3.4 is currently positive with a value of + 0.46°C for July 2018.

Island Climate Update 214 - July 2018

El Niño –Southern Oscillation (ENSO) neutral conditions continued across the tropical Pacific during June 2018. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central equatorial Pacific warmed for the third consecutive month and are currently slightly above average. The NINO3.4 is currently weakly positive with a value of + 0.27°C for June 2018.

Island Climate Update 213 - June 2018

ENSO-neutral conditions persisted in the tropical Pacific during May 2018. Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean continued to warm during May and are now near or slightly above average. The NINO3.4 is currently close to zero (+0.01°C for May 2018).

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