Latest Tropical meteorology Stories
Researchers are tracking Indian Ocean climate patterns with the possibility that they will improve early-warning systems for the El Nino phenomenon, which could save countless lives and billions of dollars lost each year to the severe weather it causes. Researchers from Japan and France said their new forecast model may predict an El Nino up to 14 months ahead of time, several months earlier than with current models. A paper on the project was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. "It...
IntroductionLarge-scale weather patterns which occur in various locations around the Earth, from the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropics to the high latitude Arctic Oscillation (AO) play a significant part in controlling the weather on a seasonal time scale. Knowing the condition of these atmospheric oscillations in advance would greatly improve long-range weather predictions. Scientists search for clues in the earth's surface conditions such as tropical sea surface...
Distinct long-term variations of wet and dry phases in the tropics of East AfricaClimatic fluctuations close to the equator show a different pattern to climate change in the Arctic and Antarctic. In the tropics distinct 11500 year fluctuations between wet and dry periods can be clearly identified which do not occur in temperature reconstructions of polar ice cores. The investigations of the climate of the last 25000 years in tropical Africa show that dry phases prevailed during lower solar...
Since May 2009, the tropical Pacific Ocean has switched from a cool pattern of ocean circulation known as La Niña to her warmer sibling, El Niño. This cyclical warming of the ocean waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific generally occurs every three to seven years, and is linked with changes in the strength of the trade winds. El Niño can affect weather worldwide, including the Atlantic hurricane season, Asian monsoon season and northern hemisphere winter storm season. But...
Scientists say the eastern Pacific El Nino, which can shield the United States from severe hurricane seasons, may be reduced in effectiveness by global warming. There are two El Ninos, or flavors of El Nino, said Ben Kirtman, a professor at the University of Miami's Rosentstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. In addition to the eastern Pacific El Nino "¦ a second El Nino in the central Pacific is on the increase. El Nino is a recurring warm water current along the equator in the...
On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization said that an El Nino current now in the Pacific Ocean would last until 2010, promising unpredictable disruption in weather patterns around the world. The WMO said that in June and July, sea surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Pacific area were about 0.5 to one degree Celsius warmer than usual at this time of the year. "The expectation is for El Nino conditions to very likely prevail through the remainder of 2009 and into the...
Establishing a key link between the solar cycle and global climate, research led by scientists at the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., shows that maximum solar activity and its aftermath have impacts on Earth that resemble La Niña and El Niño events in the tropical Pacific Ocean.The research may pave the way toward predictions of temperature and precipitation patterns at certain times during the approximately...
On Thursday government scientists said that periodic warming of water in the tropic Pacific Ocean, also known as El Nino, has returned, which will affect weather around the globe. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say that the Pacific had been in a neutral state, but the sea surface temperature rose to 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above normal along a narrow band in the eastern equatorial Pacific in June. NOAA's Climate Prediction Center said that...
The rain band near the equator that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years, probably because of a warmer world, according to research published in the July issue of Nature Geoscience.If the band continues to migrate at just less than a mile (1.4 kilometers) a year, which is the average for all the years it has been moving north, then some Pacific islands near the equator "“ even...
The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon has been shown to have a significant effect on the results of the Ashes cricket series. When the series is held in Australia, the Australian Cricket team is more likely to succeed after El Nino years, while the England cricket team has a historically better record following La Nina years (the opposite phase), according to a study published today in Weather.ENSO is the largest mode of interannual climate variability in terms of globally...
Latest Tropical meteorology Reference Libraries
If you live in or around Billings, Montana the above graph shows you what you can roughly expect when it comes to heating and cooling your house during the ENSO Phases. In Billings during a normal phase of the ENSO your heating degree days pass 900HDD. However, when El-Nino phase is present the monthly average dropped to around 650.5HDD, which is a pretty significant amount especially when you are talking about paying that heating bill. When the La-Nina phase sets up the heating degree...
ENSO has an impact on the severe weather across the United States. As we look at the above graph we see that the area of Baltimore is impacted by ENSO and its tornado count. The stats are for the described years to the left of each bar. During a La-Nina the tornado count picks up for the region; within 50 miles of the city up to 9 tornadoes occurred during the 2000 event. The 2010 EL-Nino set into the region and the tornado count dropped to around 4 tornadoes within 50 miles of the...
If you live in or around Bismarck North Dakota the graph shows you what you can roughly expect when it comes to heating and cooling your house during the ENSO Phases. Bismarck North Dakota, with its northern latitude, does have an impact on what type of heating and cooling it sees. During an Normal Phase the HDD for the region hits about 1348 on average. When the region enters into an El-Nino they can expect the amount of HDD’s to decrease to around 970 which really helps cut down on the...
The above graph highlights how the ENSO has an impact on water temps. Northern Gulf of Mexico during EL-Nino: The first part of March during this EL-Nino cycle saw water temps in the 56-60F range, while the 8-14th saw water temps warm to the 60-64F range. By the third week of March temps had maintained 60-64F. The last week of March the temps dropped back to around 56-60F. Northern Gulf of Mexico during LA-Nina: The first week of March saw water temps approach the 70-72F range, by the...
When it comes to wind, more and more people are turning to it as alternative option for electricity. One has to wonder what kind of impacts would be created by the different cycles of ENSO. The above graph has been done for Boston MA. The month of choice was to run it for March of all three cycles. Normal Cycle: (When we are in between EL-Nino and La-Nina) winds averaged around 0-5mph 9% of the month of March. While 6-10mph average winds occurred more often with 35%. And then winds in the...
