ENSO Page - Watts Up With That?

Welcome to the WUWT ENSO (El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation) Page. Here you’ll find a collection of the most commonly used graphs, images, and data sources for monitoring ocean temperature and oscillation patterns.

For ENSO Forecasts, please visit the ENSO Forecast Page

Niño Region Sea Surface Indexes and Anomalies

Niño 3.4 Region Sea Surface Temperature Index – 5 Years

Image unavailable – visit BOM ENSO page

Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) – Click the pic to view at source
When values are Negative: Cooling/La Niña | Positive: Warming/El Niño
More BOM Graphs: bom.gov.au/climate/enso/indices.shtml

Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly in Niño 3.4 Region – 1999 to Present

⚠ The original NOAA NCDC monitoring-content image (www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/teleconnections/eln-5-pg.gif) is no longer served — NCDC was reorganized as NCEI. Current Niño 3.4 SST monitoring:

▶ NOAA CPC – ENSO Update (current Niño region SST)
▶ NOAA NCEI – ENSO Monitoring

Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly in Niño 3.4 Region – 1950 to Present

⚠ The original NOAA NCDC long-record Niño 3.4 image is no longer served. Long-term ENSO index records:

▶ NOAA CPC – Atmospheric & SST Indices (includes Niño 3.4 long record)
▶ KNMI Climate Explorer – long-term Niño region indices

Niño Region Map – click a region for the current graph:

Map unavailable – visit IRI ENSO page for current regional data

ENSO Indexes

El Niño Modoki Index – JAMSTEC

Image unavailable – visit JAMSTEC climate research page

Japan Agency For Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) – Click the pic to view at source

Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI.v2) – 1979 to Present

⟳ The original MEI was maintained as a personal page by Klaus Wolter at ESRL. It has moved to NOAA PSL as MEI.v2, an updated 5-variable version. No stable embeddable image URL is available; visit the PSL MEI page for current charts and data.

▶ NOAA PSL – MEI.v2 (Multivariate ENSO Index, current)
▶ NOAA PSL – ENSO Information Hub

Multivariate ENSO Index – 1950 to Present (KNMI)

Image unavailable – visit KNMI Climate Explorer

The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) – Climate Explorer – Click the pic to view at source

Southern Oscillation Index (SOI)

Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) – 2000 to Present & 1950 to Present

⚠ The original NOAA NCDC SOI images are no longer served. Current SOI data:

▶ NOAA CPC – SOI Monitoring
▶ NOAA NCEI – Teleconnection Monitoring

Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) – 1882 to Present

Image unavailable – visit KNMI Climate Explorer

The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) – Climate Explorer – Click the pic to view at source

Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO)

Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) Index – 1900 to Present

Image unavailable – visit climate4you.com

climate4you.com – Ole Humlum – Click the pic to view at source

Sea Surface Temperature

NOAA OSPO Global SST Anomaly – Current

Image unavailable – visit NOAA OSPO SST Anomaly page

NOAA Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) – Clickable regional map at source

UNISYS Current Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly

Image unavailable – visit UNISYS SST page

UNISYS Weather – Current Sea Surface Temperature Anomaly – Click the pic to enlarge

BoM Monthly Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies

Image unavailable – visit BOM ENSO page

Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) – Click the pic to view at source

Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature & Anomaly With Wind – 5-Day Average

Equatorial Pacific SST and wind anomaly – 5 day

Image unavailable – visit NOAA PMEL TAO animations

NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) – TAO/TRITON – Click the pic to view at source

Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature & Anomaly – 7-Day Average

Equatorial Pacific SST 7-day average – NOAA EMC

Image unavailable – visit NOAA EMC SST Analysis

NOAA Environmental Modeling Center (EMC) – Click the pic to view at source

Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature – 30 Days Including 7-Day Forecast

Equatorial Pacific SST 30-day animation – NRL HYCOM

Image unavailable – visit NRL HYCOM products

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) – HYCOM Global Ocean Forecast System – Click the pic to view at source

Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature – NOAA CPC – 3 Months

Equatorial Pacific SST 3-month – NOAA CPC

NOAA – National Weather Service – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

Equatorial Pacific SST Anomalies – BoM – 3 Months:
https://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/surface_anim.gif

Equatorial Pacific Sea Surface Temperature – 12 Months Including 7-Day Forecast

Equatorial Pacific SST 12-month – NRL HYCOM

Image unavailable – visit NRL HYCOM products

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) – HYCOM – Click the pic to view at source

Global Sea Surface Temperature Animation – 30 Days Including 7-Day Forecast

Image unavailable – visit NRL HYCOM products

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) – HYCOM – Click the pic to view at source

Global Sea Surface Temperature – 3 Months – NOAA CPC

NOAA – National Weather Service – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

Global Sea Surface Temperature – 12 Months Including 7-Day Forecast – NRL:
https://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/GLBhycom1-12/navo/globalsst_nowcast_anim365d.gif

Custom SST Mapping Tool – NOAA CPC GODAS:
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/GODAS/mnth_movie.shtml

Ocean Subsurface Temperature:

Equatorial Temperature and Anomalies Down to 450 Meters

Equatorial temperature and anomalies to 450m

NOAA – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

BoM Monthly Subsurface Pacific Equatorial Temperature Anomalies – 400 Meters

BoM subsurface temperature anomalies 400m

Image unavailable – visit BOM ENSO page

Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) – Click the pic to view at source

BoM 5-Day Subsurface Pacific Equatorial Temperature Means and Anomalies – 500 Meters

BoM 5-day subsurface temperature animation

Image unavailable – visit BOM ENSO page

Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) – Click the pic to view at source

Equatorial Upper-Ocean Heat Anomalies

NOAA – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

Equatorial Upper-Ocean Heat Anomalies – 1 Year

NOAA – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

Average Temperature and Anomalies at 55 Meters

NOAA – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

Average Temperature and Anomalies at 105 Meters

NOAA – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

Average Temperature and Anomalies at 155 Meters

NOAA – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

Equatorial Temperature Anomaly 2 Months (Surface to 450 Meters)

NOAA – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

Equatorial Temperature Anomaly 12 Months (Surface to 450 Meters)

NOAA – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

BoM Subsurface Pacific Equatorial Temperature and Anomalies at 150 Meters

BoM subsurface Pacific temperature at 150m

Image unavailable – visit BOM ENSO page

Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) – Click the pic to view at source

Sea Level:

Sea Level Anomalies

NOAA – Climate Prediction Center – Click the pic to view at source

Global Sea Surface Height

⚠ The original NRL NCOM global sea surface height image (www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/global_ncom/glb8_3b/) is no longer available — the NCOM model was superseded by the HYCOM-based GOFS in 2018. Current global SSH products:

▶ NRL HYCOM Global Ocean Forecast System (GOFS) – current SSH products
▶ NOAA NCEI – Navy Global HYCOM data

Salinity:

Global Sea Surface Salinity – Current

Image unavailable – visit NRL HYCOM products

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) – HYCOM – Click the pic to view at source

Global Sea Surface Salinity – 30-Day Animation: 30-Day GIF
Global Sea Surface Salinity – 12-Month Animation: 12-Month GIF

Reference for El Niño and La Niña Weather Pattern Effects:

El Niño and La Niña weather pattern effects reference

Image unavailable – visit NOAA Climate.gov ENSO page for current El Niño/La Niña impact maps

NASA – El Niño and La Niña weather pattern effects – ▶ NOAA Climate.gov – ENSO resource hub

Proper Computer Editing Usage of the Terms El Niño and La Niña:

So often people take shortcuts when writing about these because the proper Spanish ñ (enye) is not easily typed. On all systems if you type ñ you’ll get ñ, giving you Niño.

Mac: Hold Option, type N, then type N or n
Windows: Hold Alt and type 164 or 0241 on the numeric keypad (Num Lock on) for lowercase ñ; Alt-165 or Alt-0209 for uppercase Ñ
Microsoft Word: Press Control-Shift-Tilde (~) then type N
Linux: Hold Ctrl+Shift and type UF1 for ñ or UD1 for Ñ

Source Guide:

Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM)
Home Page – https://www.bom.gov.au/
ENSO Page – https://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/
ENSO Indices – https://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/indices.shtml

climate4you.com – Ole Humlum
https://www.climate4you.com/

NOAA Climate Prediction Center (CPC)
Home Page – https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/
ENSO Update – https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_update/
GODAS – https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/GODAS/
SST Indices – https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/data/indices/

NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory (PSL) (formerly ESRL PSD)
ENSO Hub – https://psl.noaa.gov/enso/
MEI.v2 – https://psl.noaa.gov/enso/mei/

NOAA OSPO – Office of Satellite and Product Operations
SST Anomaly – https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/sst/anomaly/

NOAA PMEL – Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (TAO/TRITON)
Home Page – https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tao/

NOAA NCEI – National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly NCDC)
ENSO Monitoring – https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/enso/

NOAA Climate.gov – ENSO Resource Hub
https://www.climate.gov/enso

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) – HYCOM (Global Ocean Forecast System)
GOFS Products – https://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/GLBhycom1-12/

KNMI Climate Explorer
https://climexp.knmi.nl/start.cgi

JAMSTEC – El Niño Modoki Research
https://www.jamstec.go.jp/aplinfo/sintexf/iod/

IRI/LDEO Climate Data Library – Columbia University
ENSO Current Forecast – https://iri.columbia.edu/our-expertise/climate/forecasts/enso/current/
Data Library – https://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu/

Weather Models / Ryan Maue (formerly COAPS/FSU and policlimate.com)
https://weathermodels.com/

UNISYS Weather
SST Anomaly – https://weather.unisys.com/surface/sst_anom.html

NOAA El Niño/La Niña Theme Pages
https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/elnino/
https://www.climate.gov/enso

SSEC / CIMSS – University of Wisconsin–Madison
Global Satellite Composites – https://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/comp/

ECMWF – European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
Charts – https://charts.ecmwf.int/

NASA JPL – Ocean Surface Topography
https://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/

University of Colorado – Sea Level Research Group
https://sealevel.colorado.edu/

Additional Resources – Dr. Roy Spencer (UAH)
https://www.drroyspencer.com/latest-global-temperatures/