Biggest El Nino

[icefisher]

We have had some discussion about the 1998 El Nino as compared to the 2009 El Nino.

Some have claimed the 1998 El Nino was a bigger event. However, it might have only been a bigger event in terms of the absolute temperature values of the climate surrounding it.

Here is a post from Pielke Sr that suggests maybe the 2009 El Nino is the real haymaker of the bunch.

pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/recent-variations-in-upper-ocean-heat-content-information-from-phil-klotzbach/

“The Climate Prediction Center recently released its equatorial upper ocean heat content for April 2010. One of the primary areas that they focus on is the equatorial heat content averaged over the area from 180-100W. The decrease in upper ocean heat content from March to April was 1C, which is the largest decrease in equatorial upper ocean heat content in this area since the CPC began keeping records of this in 1979."

Enjoy!

[magellan]

In neutral now..



Hmm, upwelling of heat to the surface.....decreasing OHC.....anyone care to guess what comes next?

[sigurdur]

I already am living in what comes next

[nautonnier]

It was an El Nino Modoki which means that instead of there being a relatively narrow equatorial area that was warm the heat actually spread a long way south and may have also included a large area of warm surface water that appeared between Chile and New Zealand.

See this from January this year....




This has allowed a huge amount of energy to escape to space and was measured as the tropospheric temperature increase that has got the usual suspects waving their hands about with glee. That heat has now gone and there does not seem to be a whole lot around to replace it. We are entering summer and yet the current SSTs are not very exciting for a 'record breaking year'.

Here are the current anomalies note the hot spot has disappeared.




So we are once again in that strange situation...

Sigurdur is watching snow with temperatures below zero this morning as are many people in the Great Lakes area. Large areas of the Northern Hemisphere are colder than normal.

Meanwhile, glc is telling everyone that this is going to be the HOTTEST YEAR since records began...

[icefisher]

May 9, 2010 3:08:46 GMT nautonnier said:

Sigurdur is watching snow with temperatures below zero this morning as are many people in the Great Lakes area. Large areas of the Northern Hemisphere are colder than normal.

Impressive climate change there.