La Niña Strengthening

La Niña Conditions Continue to Strengthen Across the Equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Above map shows a 10-day average of sea-surface height and was acquired by the Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2 satellite on September 6, 2010. Higher water surface areas signifying warmer temperatures are shades of red-brown, and areas of lower water surface (cooler) are blue. White areas are normal condition.  “The El Niño weakens the westward trade winds that normally blow over the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Those winds keep eastern Pacific waters cool and concentrate warm waters in the western Pacific. A weakening of trade winds enables warm waters to gradually spread eastward, heating up the central Pacific. La Niña typically follows El Niño, and causes essentially the opposite conditions. La Niña strengthens the trade winds, spreading cool water from the South American coast to the central Pacific. This see-saw pattern of El Niño and La Niña can drive large-scale weather changes, especially in the tropics.” Full caption here… Source: NASA E/O. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (1 MB, PNG).

Sea Surface Temperatures

50 KM Global Analysis – updated weekly.

Current Conditions

Source: NWS/CPC/NOAA

Current SST Anomalies

SST Anomalies During El Niño

Above image shows SST Anomalies during the 2009 El Niño episode, saved on July 27, 2009 and included for comparison.

Related Links:

• El Niño