STANDARD OPENING PARAGRAPH
The December 2011 Reynolds OI.v2 Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data through the NOAA NOMADS website won’t be official until Monday, January 9th. Refer to the schedule on the NOAA Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature Analysis Frequently Asked Questionswebpage. The following are the preliminary Global and NINO3.4 SST anomalies for December 2011 that the NOMADS website prepares based on incomplete data for the month. I’ve also included the weekly data through the week centered on December 21, 2011, but I’ve shortened the span of the weekly data, starting it in January 2004, so that the variations can be seen.
PRELIMINARY MONTHLY DATA
Based on the preliminary data, Monthly NINO3.4 SST anomalies are at -0.95 deg C, which is still within the range of a weak La Niña. It’s unlikely to reach too much lower since December and January are the normal peak months for ENSO.
Monthly NINO3.4 SST Anomalies
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The preliminary global SST anomaly is +0.04 deg C.
Monthly Global SST Anomalies
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WEEKLY DATA
The weekly NINO3.4 SST anomalies for the week centered on December 21, 2011 have not changed considerably over the past few weeks. They are presently at -0.88 deg C.
Weekly NINO3.4 SST Anomalies
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Weekly Global SST Anomalies have rebounded. They are presently at +0.061 deg C.
Weekly Global SST Anomalies
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SOURCES
SST anomaly data is available through the NOAA NOMADS website:
http://nomad1.ncep.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/pdisp_sst.sh
or:
