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Summary: Mixed El Niño indicators, but Pacific continues to warm
Temperatures have risen across the equatorial Pacific during the past fortnight, in response to generally weakened Trade Winds. However, the warming has been strongest in the west of the basin which has resulted in anomalous warmth across the entire breadth of the Pacific. The typical El Niño pattern sees warmth concentrated in the central or eastern Pacific with cooler than normal temperatures in the western Pacific.
Furthermore, the coupling between the ocean and atmosphere which amplifies and maintains El Niño events has so far failed to eventuate. The neutral SOI (−5) and sub-surface cooling are evidence of this.
Leading climate models continue to predict further development of the El Niño (i.e. warming of the Pacific), although not as emphatically as a month or two back. Therefore, the odds remain strongly in favour of 2009 being recognised as an El Niño year.
El Niño events are usually (but not always) associated with below normal rainfall in the second half of the year across large parts of southern and inland eastern Australia. In keeping with this, rainfall has been below average across much of eastern Australia during July and August, with particularly dry conditions through Queensland and parts of NSW.
Conditions have recently been very warm for the time of year across Australia, with the national mean August temperature being the highest since records began in 1950. For more information about the exceptional winter heat over large parts of Australia see the Special Climate Statement issued on the 26th of August.
The most recent values of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), as measured by the Dipole Mode Index (DMI), are near zero. The Bureau's POAMA model suggests the DMI should remain neutral over the coming months.
澳洲氣象局:SOI 8月讀數-5 但聖嬰現象形成指標仍不確定
鉅亨網黃欣 綜合報導
澳洲氣象局今 (2) 日指出,可能導致澳洲乾旱和使亞洲
雨季雨水不足的異常氣候聖嬰現象 (El Nino) 仍不確定
是否已形成。
澳洲氣象局表示,在典型嬰聖現象下,東太平洋海水溫
度高於西太平洋,形成大範圍海水溫度異常上升。而目
前整個太平洋海水普遍溫暖。
不過澳洲氣象局也說,2009 年很可能仍是聖嬰現象年,
近來亞洲雨季雨量不足的現象支撐了此論點。
「局內觀察的氣候模型持續預期太平洋將因聖嬰現象進
一步暖化,但已不若 1-2 個月前明顯。」澳洲氣象局於
兩周一次的觀察報告中表示。
在 7-8 月,澳洲東岸降雨量低於平均值,此情形已經引
發可能導致小麥作物歉收的憂慮,發展中的聖嬰氣候更
加深市場疑慮。 |
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