February 25, 2019 – Intermediate-Term Weather Report – Will there be a two-year El Nino?

Written by Sig Silber

We probably should not be covering the El Nino today but wait until when I publish on the NOAA February 28 end of month report but it looks like we could have a two-year El Nino. It was hinted at in the NOAA Seasonal Outlook Update and today I have the new CFSv2 model forecast. It still may be confusion with the MJO as we cover the MJO, which is quite active, in this report. But my policy is not to hold information back from my readers so I am talking about El Nino tonight as well as the Intermediate-Term forecast. We also provide a very short summary of the forecast for March and the three months, March, April, and May in the NOAA Seasonal Outlook Update released last Thursday. The March part of that forecast will be updated by NOAA on Thursday and we will report on that either Thursday night or Friday.

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Here is another way  of looking at this information through time with a Hovmoeller graphic.

The below graphic is a short summary of part of the NOAA forecast.

To summarize, the below are the forecast maps for March and the three months of March/April/May

	Temperature	Precipitation
March
Three Months

In our Monday night Weekly Intermediate-Term Weather and Climate Report, we mostly cover Days 6 – 14 and Weeks 3 – 4 which depending on when you read this article covers to about Day 25. We cover Days  1- 5 also but in most cases readers will want to consult their local NWS Office for more detailed information that impacts them in the short term. However, we also now Published “Live: Severe Weather Events” and that can be accessed here. lt continually updates and provides easy access to products from the NOAA Storm Prediction Center and other parts of NOAA. This will make it easy to see if there are special situations that need to be considered by those living in the areas covered or planning to travel there. It is not intended to replace reliance on the local NWS Offices but is be an easy way to find out if and where that is needed.

Here is the recent history of the overall pattern for North America and the North Pacific.

Summary of the Forecast

We now provide our usual summary first for temperature and then for precipitation of small images of the four short-term maps. You can click on these maps to see larger versions. The easiest way to return to this report is by using the “Back Arrow” usually found top left corner of your screen to the left of the URL Box. Larger maps are available later in the article with the discussion and analysis.

Sometimes it is useful to see the evolution of the forecasts from the 1 – 5 Day, 6 – 10 Day (which NOAA considers to be Week-1 of their intermediate forecast) , 8 – 14 Day (which NOAA considers to be Week-2) and Week 3 and 4 (which after being issued overlap with Week-2). I do not have comparable maps for the Day 1 – 5 forecast in the same format as the three maps we generally work with. What I am showing for temperature is the Day 3 Maximum Temperature and for precipitation the five-day precipitation: the latter being fairly similar in format to the subsequent set of the maps I present each week but showing absolute QPF (inches of precipitation) not QPF deviation from Normal.

First Temperature

This shows magnitude rather than probability of being higher or lower than Normal and shows the middle day of the five day period.	The pattern is almost stationary but starting to move east.  Notice the large cool anomaly.		The transition from the 8 -14 day forecast shown above to the week 3/4 forecast seems feasible  We will have a better handle on that this Thursday.

And then Precipitation

The five day QPF is shown above. The units are different than the other maps i.e. in units of precipitation (inches) not probabilities of exceeding or being less than climatology.	Similar to temperature, the pattern is gradually shifting to the east.		The transition from the 8 -14 day forecast shown above to the week 3/4 forecast seems feasible but not necessarily.

A. Now we will begin with our regular approach and focus on Alaska and CONUS (all U.S.. except Hawaii).

Water Vapor.

This view of the past 24 hours provides a lot of insight as to what is happening.

You can see from this animation that moisture has been arriving from the Southern branch of the Polar Jet Stream. In this graphic you can see clouds streaming mostly into California. You can also see the storm that has been impacting the Southwest moving into the Plains States. And you see another storm approaching the West Coast.

Tonight, Monday February 25, 2019, as I am looking at the above graphic, you see moisture impacting Northern California and then the Northern Plains. We also see the Ohio River being impacted. I show both the moving and the static image as each has different advantages.

We now discuss Atmospheric Rivers i.e. thick concentrated movements of water moisture. More explanation on Atmospheric Rivers can be found by clicking here or if you want more theoretical information by clicking here. The idea is that we have now concluded that moisture often moves via narrow but deep channels in the atmosphere (especially when the source of the moisture is over water) rather than being very spread out. This raises the potential for extreme precipitation events. You can convert this graphic into a flexible forecasting tool by clicking here. One can obtain views of different geographical areas by clicking here.

The graphic we had been using was not updating so for the time being we added another version which is updating. It does not cover all of CONUS but it does provide a very good view of what is happening in the Pacific and the North American West Coast. But the original graphic we were using is not working so we are using both.

And this graphic is also now working again.

I have decided to include the IWT information for Europe.

And Now the Day One and Two CONUS Forecasts

Day One CONUS Forecast	Day Two CONUS Forecast
These graphics update and can be clicked on to enlarge but my brief comments are only applicable to what I see on Monday night prior to publishing.
We see snow impacting the Northern Rockies and the moisture then impacting areas further east. We are starting to see convective activity as Spring arrives.

Additional useful forecasts are available from our Severe Weather Report which this week can be found here and always can be located via this directory.

60 Hour Forecast Animation

Here is a national animation of weather fronts and precipitation forecasts with four 6-hour projections of the conditions that will apply covering the next 24 hours and a second day of two 12-hour projections the second of which is the forecast for 48 hours out and to the extent it applies for 12 hours, this animation is intended to provide coverage out to 60 hours. Beyond 60 hours, additional maps are available at links provided below. The explanation for the coding used in these maps, i.e. the full legend, can be found here although it includes some symbols that are no longer shown in the graphic because they are implemented by color coding.

The below makes it easier to focus on a particular day.  The best way to read them is from left to right on the first row and then from left to right in the row below it.

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What is Behind the Forecasts? Let us try to understand what NOAA is looking at when they issue these forecasts.

Below is a graphic which highlights the forecast surface Highs and the Lows re air pressure on Day 7. The Day 3 forecast can be found here. the Day 6 Forecast can be found here.

The Aleutian Low with surface central pressure of 988 hPa is close to Kamchatka and over the Western Aleutians. The Hawaiian High is strong and looks to be on Day 7 merged with the Western Canada High. But it has entrained a Low that is likely to have impacts. To the west of the Hawaiian High, there is another Low with surface central pressure of 1008 hPa. There is a high over Western Canada with surface central pressure of 1040 hPa. It extends south into CONUS. There is a Low over the Maritimes with surface central pressure of 996 hPa which may impact New England. The pattern is simple but relatively stagnant.

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Looking at the current activity of the Jet Stream. The below graphics and the above graphics are very related.

Not all weather is controlled by the Jet Stream (which is a high altitude phenomenon) but it does play a major role in steering storm systems especially in the winter The sub-Jet Stream level intensity winds shown by the vectors in this graphic are also very important in understanding the impacts north and south of the Jet Stream which is the higher-speed part of the wind circulation and is shown in gray on this map. In some cases however a Low-Pressure System becomes separated or “cut off” from the Jet Stream. In that case it’s movements may be more difficult to predict until that disturbance is again recaptured by the Jet Stream. This usually is more significant for the lower half of CONUS with the cutoff lows being further south than the Jet Stream. Some basic information on how to interpret the impact of jet streams on weather can be found here and here. I have not provided the ability to click to get larger images as I believe the smaller images shown are easy to read.

Current	Day 5
You can see the current pattern here. It is a zonal pattern but not prevent cold air intrusion.	Very slight shift in the pattern. But it is still the same pattern.

Putting the Jet Stream into Motion and Looking Forward a Few Days Also

To see how the pattern is projected to evolve, please click here. In addition to the shaded areas which show an interpretation of the Jet Stream, one can also see the wind vectors (arrows) at the 300 Mb level.

This longer animation shows how the jet stream is crossing the Pacific and when it reaches the U.S. West Coast is going every which way.

Click here to gain access to a very flexible computer graphic. You can adjust what is being displayed by clicking on “earth” adjusting the parameters and then clicking again on “earth” to remove the menu. Right now it is set up to show the 500 hPa wind patterns which is the main way of looking at synoptic weather patterns. This amazing graphic covers North and South America. It could be included in the Worldwide weather forecast section of this report but it is useful here re understanding the wind circulation patterns.

500 MB Mid-Atmosphere View

The map below is the mid-atmosphere 7-Day chart rather than the surface highs and lows and weather features. In some cases it provides a clearer less confusing picture as it shows only the major pressure gradients. This graphic auto-updates so when you look at it you will see NOAA’s latest thinking. The speed at which these troughs and ridges travel across the nation will determine the timing of weather impacts. This graphic auto-updates I think every six hours and it changes a lot. Thinking about clockwise movements around High Pressure Systems and counter- clockwise movements around Low Pressure Systems provides a lot of information.

Here is the whole suite of similar maps for Days 3, 4, 5, 6 and repeated for Day 7. It is quite complicated. Read from left to right first  row and then left to right on the  second row. 

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We are showing both the situation on the surface and at mid-atmosphere 500 mb and the view is different so sometimes it is useful to simply be able to compare them.

Here is the seven-day cumulative precipitation forecast. More information in how to interpret this graphic is available here.

Four – Week Outlook: Looking Beyond Days 1 to 5, What is the Forecast for the Following Three + Weeks?

I use “EC” in my discussions although NOAA sometimes uses “EC” (Equal Chances) and sometimes uses “N” (Normal) to pretty much indicate the same thing although “N” may be more definitive.

First – Temperature

6 – 10 Day Temperature Outlook issued today (Note the NOAA Level of Confidence in the Forecast Released on February 25, 2019 was 4 out of 5

8 – 14 Day Temperature Outlook issued today (Note the NOAA Level of Confidence in the Forecast Released on February 25, 2019 was 3 out of 5).

–

Looking further out.

Now – Precipitation

6 – 10 Day Precipitation Outlook Issued Today (Note the NOAA Level of Confidence in the Forecast Released on February 25, 2019 was 4 out of 5)

8 – 14 Day Precipitation Outlook Issued Today (Note the NOAA Level of Confidence in the Forecast Released on February 25, 2019 was 3 out of 5)

Looking further out.

Here is the 6 – 14 Day NOAA discussion released today February 25, 2019

6-10 DAY OUTLOOK FOR MAR 03 – 07 2019

THE GFS, ECMWF, AND CANADIAN ENSEMBLE MEANS ARE IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE LONGWAVE 500-HPA PATTERN THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST DOMAIN. TROUGHS ARE ANTICIPATED OVER THE BERING SEA AND THE EASTERN CONUS, AND A RIDGE CONTINUES TO BE PREDICTED OVER THE ALASKA REGION. THE 5-DAY MEAN HEIGHT PATTERNS GENERALLY FAVOR A ZONALLY ELONGATED TROUGH ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA, WITH A WESTWARD EXTENSION OF THIS TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN GULF OF ALASKA. THIS FEATURE HELPS TO BETTER DEFINE WESTERLY PACIFIC FLOW ACROSS THE WESTERN CONUS, AND HELPS SHIELD PORTIONS OF THE WEST FROM THE BITTER COLD ARCTIC AIR MASSES OF WESTERN CANADA. THE MANUAL 500-HPA HEIGHT BLEND IS BASED ON THE ENSEMBLE MEANS FROM THE ECMWF, GFS, AND CANADIAN MODELS. ABOVE NORMAL HEIGHTS ARE FORECAST FOR THE SOUTHWESTERN CONUS AND MOST OF ALASKA REGION, WHILE BELOW NORMAL HEIGHTS ARE FAVORED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST DOMAIN.

THE PREDICTED RIDGE OVER MAINLAND ALASKA AND ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED IN  WESTERN CANADA ARE LIKELY TO MAINTAIN AN ANOMALOUSLY COLD PATTERN ACROSS MUCH OF THE LOWER 48 STATES. THE HIGHEST ODDS FOR BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES (GREATER THAN 90 PERCENT) ARE FORECAST ACROSS PARTS OF THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL GREAT PLAINS, MOST OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, THE GREAT LAKES REGION, AND THE OHIO VALLEY, DUE TO EXCELLENT DYNAMICAL AND STATISTICAL TOOL AGREEMENT. ANOMALOUS WARMTH IS EXPECTED IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA. MEAN TEMPERATURES ARE ALSO FAVORED TO BE IN THE UPPER TERCILE (ABOVE NORMAL) OVER SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA AND SOUTHWESTERN NEW MEXICO DURING THE 6-10 DAY PERIOD, ASSOCIATED WITH A LOW AMPLITUDE RIDGE THAT IS PREDICTED IN THAT REGION. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE ALSO FAVORED FOR MOST OF MAINLAND ALASKA AND THE ALEUTIANS UNDERNEATH ANOMALOUS RIDGING AND SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD OF A TROUGH FORECAST OVER THE WESTERN BERING SEA. HOWEVER, THERE ARE ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF BELOW NORMAL (LOWER TERCILE) TEMPERATURES FOR THE ALASKA PANHANDLE UNDERNEATH ANOMALOUS NORTHEASTERLY 500-HPA FLOW DOWNSTREAM OF THE RIDGE AXIS.

ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS FAVORED OVER MUCH OF THE WESTERN LOWER 48 STATES DUE TO THE INFLUX OF PACIFIC MOISTURE DURING THIS PERIOD. ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS FAVORED FOR THE GULF COAST AND THE SOUTHERN ATLANTIC COAST, DUE TO SHORTWAVE TROUGHS ROTATING AROUND THE BASE OF THE LONGWAVE TROUGH. FAVORED BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS DEPICTED OVER PARTS OF SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA, SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO AND SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS. BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS ALSO FAVORED FOR PART OF THE NORTHERN CONUS AND THE NORTHEASTERN CONUS, SUPPORTED BY THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE ECMWF AND GEFS REFORECAST PRECIPITATION TOOLS. ANOMALOUS RIDGING AND ASSOCIATED OFFSHORE FLOW LEAD TO ENHANCED PROBABILITIES OF BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION FOR SOUTHEASTERN PORTIONS OF MAINLAND ALASKA AND THE ALASKA PANHANDLE. CONVERSELY, ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS FAVORED FOR THE REMAINDER OF ALASKA UNDERNEATH MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD OF THE TROUGH FORECAST OVER THE WESTERN BERING SEA.

FORECAST CONFIDENCE FOR THE 6-10 DAY PERIOD: ABOVE AVERAGE, 4 OUT OF 5, DUE TO VERY GOOD AGREEMENT AMONG THE ENSEMBLE MEANS AND FORECAST TOOLS.

8-14 DAY OUTLOOK FOR MAR 05 – 11 2019 

THE WEEK-2 ENSEMBLE MEANS PREDICT A CIRCULATION PATTERN THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE 6-10 DAY PERIOD. LOW-AMPLITUDE WESTERLY FLOW IS EXPECTED OVER MUCH OF THE CONUS DURING WEEK-2. THE WEEK-2 MANUAL 500-HPA HEIGHT BLEND IS BASED ON THE ENSEMBLE MEAN SOLUTIONS FROM THE GFS, ECMWF, AND CANADIAN MODELS. ABOVE NORMAL HEIGHTS ARE FAVORED ACROSS NEARLY ALL OF ALASKA, AND ACROSS THE SOUTHERN CONUS. BELOW NORMAL HEIGHTS ARE FORECAST OVER APPROXIMATELY THE NORTHERN ONE-HALF OF THE CONUS, AND THE WESTERN ALEUTIANS.

BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE LIKELY FOR MUCH OF THE CONUS DURING WEEK-2 IN ASSOCIATION WITH A MEAN ANOMALOUS TROUGH (WITH A SIGNIFICANT ZONAL COMPONENT).  RESIDUAL ANOMALOUS WARMTH IS FAVORED FOR SOUTHERN FLORIDA. ENHANCED ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURE PROBABILITIES ARE INDICATED FOR SOUTHEASTERN ARIZONA, SOUTHWESTERN NEW MEXICO, AND SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS. THE 500-HPA RIDGE PREDICTED OVER ALASKA FAVORS ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES OVER THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE 49TH STATE. INCREASING NORTHEASTERLY ANOMALOUS FLOW ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN MAINLAND AND THE PANHANDLE REGION FAVORS BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. 

ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS FAVORED ACROSS MOST OF THE WESTERN CONUS, ASSOCIATED WITH LOW-LEVEL SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW AHEAD OF A MID-LEVEL TROUGH EXPECTED TO APPROACH THE WEST COAST FROM THE PACIFIC. COLD SURFACE HIGHS PUSHING SOUTHEASTWARD OUT OF ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN ARE FORECAST TO LEAD TO UPSLOPE FLOW AND ENHANCED ODDS OF UPPER-TERCILE PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS AND ROCKIES. THERE IS AT LEAST A MODEST TILT IN THE ODDS FOR UPPER TERCILE PRECIPITATION ACROSS MOST OF THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CONUS, DUE TO THE EXPECTED INFLUENCE OF A 500-HPA TROUGH OVER THIS REGION. 

RELATIVELY SMALL AREAS OF FAVORED BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION ARE DEPICTED OVER  WASHINGTON, SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS, THE UPPER GREAT LAKES, AND MAINE. ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS FAVORED FOR MOST OF MAINLAND ALASKA AND THE ALEUTIANS ASSOCIATION WITH MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD OF THE TROUGH FORECAST OVER THE WESTERN BERING SEA, WHILE BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION IS FORECAST FOR THE ALASKA PANHANDLE UNDER ABOVE NORMAL 500-HPA HEIGHTS. 

FORECAST CONFIDENCE FOR THE 8-14 DAY PERIOD: AVERAGE, 3 OUT OF 5, DUE TO THE INCREASINGLY LIKELIHOOD OF SPLIT FLOW, AND LOW TO MODERATE ENSEMBLE SPREAD OVER THE CONUS.

THE NEXT SET OF LONG-LEAD MONTHLY AND SEASONAL OUTLOOKS WILL BE RELEASED ON  MARCH 21.

Analogs to the NOAA 6 – 14 Day Outlook.

Now let us take a detailed look at the “Analogs”.

NOAA normally provides two sets of Analogs.

A. Analogs related to the 5 day period centered on 3 days ago and the 7 day period centered on 4 days ago. “Analog” means that the weather pattern then resembles the recent weather pattern and the recent pattern is used to initialize the models to predict the 6 – 14 day Outlook.

B. There is a second set of analogs associated with the Outlook. It compares the forecast (rather than the prior period) to past weather patterns. I have not been regularly analyzing this second set of information. The first set applies to the 5 and 7 day observed pattern prior to today. The second set, relates to the correlation of the forecasted outlook 6 – 10 days out and 8 – 14 days out with similar patterns that have occurred in the past during a longer period that includes the dates covered by the 6 – 10 Day and 8 – 14 Day Outlook. The second set of analogs also has useful information as it indicates that the forecast is feasible in the sense that something like it has happened before. I am not very impressed with that approach. But in some ways both Approach A and B are somewhat similar. I conclude that if the Ocean Condition now are different then the analogs and if the state of ENSO now is different than the analogs that is a reason to have increased lack of confidence in the forecasts and vice versa.

They put the first set of analogs in the discussion with the second set available by a link so I am assuming that the first set of analogs is the most meaningful and I find it so. But NOAA prefers the first set (A) as it helps them (or at least they think it does) assess the quality of the forecast.

Here are today’s analogs in chronological order although this information is also available with the analog dates listed by the level of correlation. I find the chronological order easier for me to work with. It also helps the reader see the impact of the phases of the PDO and AMO which are shown. The first set (A) which is what I am using today applies to the 5 and 7 day observed pattern prior to today.

* I assign values that are consistent with the trend so I am doing some subjective smoothing with respect to the Phases of the AMO and PDO shown in this table. (t) = a month where the Ocean Cycle Index has just changed from a consistent pattern or does change the following month to a consistent pattern.

The spread among the analogs from February 4, 2019 to February 25, 2009 is 21 days which is even tighter than last week.(and may suggest a pattern that is easier to forecast). I have not calculated the centroid of this distribution which would be the better way to look at things but the midpoint, which is a lot easier to calculate, and fairly accurate if the dates are reasonably evenly distributed, is about February 16. These analogs are describing historical weather that was centered on 3 days and 4 days ago (February 21 or February 22). So the analogs could be considered to be out of sync with respect to weather that we would normally be getting right now. We are now almost a week late re moving to Spring. This may be significant. Spring is not here.

For more information on Analogs see discussion in the GEI Weather Page Glossary. For sure it is a rough measure as there are so many historical patterns but not enough to be a perfect match with current conditions. I use it mainly to see how our current conditions match against somewhat similar patterns and the ocean phases that prevailed during those prior patterns. If everything lines up I have my own measure of confidence in the NOAA forecast. Similar initial conditions should lead to similar weather. I am a mathematician so that is how I think about models.

Including duplicates, there are four Neutral analogs, zero El Nino Analogs, and six La Nina Analogs. The pre-forecast analogs this week favor McCabe Condition C “Northern Tier and Mid-Atlantic Drought”. By rejecting this scenario, the forecast is not totally consistent with the NOAA 6 – 14 Day forecast reduces my confidence in the NOAA forecast. It may be hard to believe but the Atlantic is in control which may explain the slow west to east movement of weather patterns. 

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Historical Anomaly Analysis

When I see the same dates showing up often I find it interesting to consult this list.

A Useful Read

Some might find this analysis which you need to click to read interesting as the organization which prepares it focuses on the Pacific Ocean and looks at things from a very detailed perspective and their analysis provides a lot of information on the history and evolution of ENSO events.

Some Indices of Possible Interest: We should always remember that the forecast is driven by many factors some of which are conflicting in terms of their impacts. Please pay more attention to the graphics than my commentary which does not update on a regular basis once the article is published. The indices will continue to update. I provide these indices as they are important guidelines to the weather. It is in a way looking at the factors that are impacting the weather. There were developed  because weather forecasters found them to be useful.

We provided additional information in the introduction to this Article.

Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO)

The MJO is an area of convective activity along the Equator which circles the globe generally in 30 to 60 days. The location of the convective activity not only impacts the Equator but also the middle latitudes. Most people are not familiar with the MJO but at certain times it plays an important role Worldwide re weather and for CONUS.

There are a lot of models and I try to read the results from all of them. For access to a variety of models, I refer readers here. This weekly report summarizes things. Here is another useful source of information.

First we look at two models that I find very helpful. On the GFS graphic , the light gray shading shows the tracks which fit with 90% of the forecasts and the dark gray shading shows a smaller area that fits with 50% of the forecasts The large dot is the current location.

Now the first of the two graphics we typically present which shows where the MJO is now how it got there.

This shows the recent history.  MJO is now in Phase 1. Will it move further east?

And then a forecast.

The impact of this is shown in the summary graphic earlier: a shift in the cool anomaly to the east.

It is sometimes useful to look at the recent history of the MJO.

Here is another way  of looking at this information through time with a Hovmoeller graphic.

Recent CONUS Weather

This is provided mainly to see the pattern in the weather that has occurred recently.

And the 30 Days ending February 17, 2019	And the 30 Days ending February 23, 2019
Northern Tier wetter, Southeast drier, Cold Anomaly more North Central and more intense.	Some reduced dryness but mostly reduced western warmness.
Remember, these maps are a 30 average so the most distant seven days are removed and the most recent seven days are added.

B. Beyond Alaska and CONUS Let’s Look at the World which of course also includes Alaska and CONUS

It is Useful to Understand the Semipermanent Pattern that Control our Weather and Consider how These Change from Winter to Summer. These two graphics (click on each one to enlarge) are from a much larger set available from the Weather Channel. They highlight the position of the Bermuda High which they are calling the Azores High in the January graphic and is often called NASH and it has a very big impact on CONUS Southeast weather and also the Southwest. You also see the north/south migration of the Pacific High which also has many names and which is extremely important for CONUS weather and it also shows the change of location of the ITCZ which I think is key to understanding the Indian Monsoon. A lot of things become much clearer when you understand these semi-permanent features some of which have cycles within the year, longer period cycles and may be impacted by Global Warming. We are now moving into early March. We should be returning from the set of positions shown below for the Winter Pattern to the Summer Pattern. For CONUS, the seasonal repositioning of the Bermuda High and the Pacific High are very significant.

World Forecasts

1. Today (Source: University of Maine)

2. Short-term set for day six but can be adjusted (BOM – Australia)

3. 8 – 14 Day (NOAA/Canada/Mexico Experimental NAEFS))

4 Tropical  Activity

1.  Forecast for Today (you can click on the maps to enlarge them)

And now precipitation

Additional Maps showing different weather variables can be found here.

2. Forecast for Day 6 (Currently Set for Day 6 but the reader can change that)

World Weather Forecast produced by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Unfortunately I do not know how to extract the control panel and embed it into my report so that you could use the tool within my report. But if you visit it Click Here and you will be able to use the tool to view temperature or many other things for THE WORLD. It can forecast out for a week. Pretty cool. Return to this report by using the “Back Arrow” usually found top left corner of your screen to the left of the URL Box. It may require hitting it a few times depending on how deep you are into the BOM tool. Below are the current worldwide precipitation and temperature forecasts for six days out. They will auto-update and be current for Day 6 whenever you view them. If you want the forecast for a different day Click Here

Again, please remember this graphic updates every six hours so the diurnal pattern can confuse the reader.

Now Precipitation

3. And now we have experimental 8 – 14 Day World forecasts from the NAEFS Model.

First Temperature

Then Precipitation

4. Tropical Hazards.

C. ENSO SUMMARY of Current Status. 

This section is organized into three parts.

1. Current Sea Surface Temperatures (SST)

2. Current Nino 3.4 Readings

3. The Surface Air Pressure Pattern that confirms the state of ENSO.

1. Current and Recent Sea Surface Temperatures (SST)

A major driver of weather is Surface Ocean Temperatures. Evaporation only occurs from the Surface of Water. So we are very interested in the temperatures of water especially when these temperatures deviate from seasonal norms thus creating an anomaly. The geographical distribution of the anomalies is very important. To a substantial extent, the temperature anomalies along the Equator have disproportionate impact on weather so we study them intensely and that is what the ENSO (El Nino – Southern Oscillation) cycle is all about. Subsurface water can be thought of as the future surface temperatures. They may have only indirect impacts on current weather but they have major impacts on future weather by changing the temperature of the water surface. Winds and Convection (evaporation forming clouds) is weather and is a result of the Phases of ENSO and also a feedback loop that perpetuates the current Phase of ENSO or changes it. That is why we monitor winds and convection along or near the Equator especially the Equator in the Eastern Pacific.

My focus here is sea surface temperature anomalies as they are one of the two largest factors determining weather around the World. If we want to have a good feel for future weather we need to look at the oceans as our weather mostly comes from oceans and we need to look at surface temperature anomalies (weather develops from the ocean surface

It is the ocean surface that interacts with the atmosphere and causes convection and also the warming and cooling of the atmosphere. So we are interested in the actual ocean surface temperatures and the departure from seasonal normal temperatures which is called “departures” or “anomalies”. Since warm water facilitates evaporation which results in cloud convection, the pattern of SST anomalies suggests how the weather pattern east of the anomalies will be different than normal.

Current Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Departures from Normal for this Time of the Year i.e. Anomalies

First the categorization of the current Monthly Average SST anomalies.
Mediterranean, Black Sea and Caspian Sea	Western Pacific	West of North America	North and East of North America	North Atlantic
Mediterranean and Black Sea Neutral:  Caspian Sea warm. Red Sea and Persian Gulf Neutral.	Warm	Waters around Alaska slightly warm Cool offshore of CONUS Northwest Cool off Baja Mexico	Great Lakes cool Waters offshore of East Coast warm. Davis Strait warm.	Slightly warm around Scandinavia Slightly cool far south of Greenland but warm along the Greenland coast.
Equator	Fairly close to neutral, Offshore of Columbia cool.
Africa	West of Australia	North, South and East of Australia	West of South America	East of South America
Cool off Northwest Africa stretching almost to South America Warm west of Africa south of the Equator	Neutral	Cool NW and NE. Warm SE and beyond New Zealand	Cool just off Columbia Cool south of Cape Horn	Warm off East Coast.

Then we look at the change in the anomalies. The SST anomaly is sort of like the first derivative and the change in the anomaly is somewhat like a second derivative. It tells us if the anomaly is becoming more or less intense.

I am only showing the currently issued version of the NINO SST Index Table as the prior values are shown in the small graphics on the right with this graphic. The same data in graphic form but going back a couple of more years can be found here. The full table of values can be found here. NOAA considers Nino 3.4 shown in the graphic as the best indicator of Equatorial Surface Temperature Anomalies associated with different phases of ENSO. There is a duration requirement to be a recorded El Nino or La Nina but to have El Nino Conditions the Nino 3.4 index needs to be +0.5C or warmer and to have La Nina Conditions the Nino 3.4 Index needs to be -0.5C or cooler.

This graphic brings the Nino 3.4 up to date and is easy to read.

Here is a daily version

Starting with Surface Conditions.

TAO/TRITON GRAPHIC (a good way of viewing data related to the part of the Equator and the waters close to the Equator in the Eastern Pacific where we monitor to determining the current phase of ENSO. It is probably not necessary to follow the discussion below, but here is a link to TAO/TRITON terminology.

And here is the current version of the TAO/TRITON Graphic. The top part shows the actual temperatures, the bottom part shows the anomalies i.e. the deviation from normal.

This may help put the above graphics in focus.

Since the above graphic had not been updated at the time we went to press, the following is useful as it is updated. The date shown is the midpoint for the five day average.

3. The Surface Air Pressure that Confirms the Nino 3.4 Index

And of course Queensland Australia is the official keeper of the SOI measurements.

SOI = 10 X [ Pdiff – Pdiffav ]/ SD(Pdiff) where Pdiff = (average Tahiti MSLP for the month) – (average Darwin MSLP for the month), Pdiffav = long term average of Pdiff for the month in question, and SD(Pdiff) = long term standard deviation of Pdiff for the month in question. So really it is comparing the extent to which Tahiti is more cloudy than Darwin, Australia. During El Nino we expect Darwin Australia to have lower air pressure and more convection than Tahiti (Negative SOI especially lower than -7 correlates with El Nino Conditions). During La Nina we expect the Warm Pool to be further east resulting in Positive SOI values greater than +7).

D. Putting it all Together.

At this time, La Nina Conditions along the Equator have come to an end and we are solidly into ENSO Neutral and possibly entering into El Nino Conditions.

There is some thought now that we might have a sub-El Nino situation that extends into next Winter. JAMSTEC ruled that out but there are some signs that this could happen.

E. Relevant Recent Articles and Reports

Weather in the News

Nothing to report

Global Warming in the News

Nothing to report

Useful Reference Information

Understand How the Jet Stream Impacts Weather

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Standard Pressure Levels

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