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2015 July Quick Look

Published: July 16, 2015

A monthly summary of the status of El Niño, La Niña, and the Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, based on the NINO3.4 index (120-170W, 5S-5N)

During late June through mid-July 2015 the SST was at a moderate El Niño level. All atmospheric variables support the El Niño pattern, including weakened trade winds and excess rainfall in the east-central tropical Pacific. The consensus of ENSO prediction models indicate continuation of moderate, and likely becoming strong, El Niño conditions during the July-September 2015 season in progress. Further strengthening between summer and fall is likely, with the event lasting into early 2016.

Figures 1 and 3 (the official CPC ENSO probability forecast and the objective model-based IRI ENSO probability forecast, respectively) are often quite similar. However, occasionally they may differ noticeably. There can be several reasons for differences. One possible reason is that the human forecasters, using their experience and judgment, may disagree to some degree with the models, which may have known biases. Another reason is related to the fact that the models are not run at the same time that the forecasters make their assessment, so that the starting ENSO conditions may be slightly different between the two times. The charts on this Quick Look page are updated at two different times of the month, so that between the second and the third Thursday of the month, the official forecast (Fig. 1) has just been updated, while the model-based forecasts (Figs. 3 and 4) are still from the third Thursday of the previous month. On the other hand, from the third Thursday of the month until the second Thursday of the next month, the model-based forecasts are more recently updated, while the official forecasts remain from the second Thursday of the current month.
Click on the for more information on each figure.

Historically Speaking

    El Niño and La Niña events tend to develop during the period Apr-Jun and they
  • Tend to reach their maximum strength during October - February
  • Typically persist for 9-12 months, though occasionally persisting for up to 2 years
  • Typically recur every 2 to 7 years

ENSO Forecast

CPC ENSO Update

Published: July 9, 2015

El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion issued by the Climate Prediction Center/NCEP/NWS

ENSO Alert System Status: El Niño Advisory

Synopsis: There is a greater than 90% chance that El Niño will continue through Northern Hemisphere winter 2015-16, and around an 80% chance it will last into early spring 2016.

During June, sea surface temperatures (SST) anomalies exceeded +1.0°C across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean (Fig. 1).  The largest SST anomaly increases occurred in the Niño-3 and Niño-3.4 regions, while the Niño-4 and Niño-1+2 indices remained more constant through the month (Fig. 2).  Positive subsurface temperature anomalies weakened  (Fig. 3) due to the eastward shift of an upwelling oceanic Kelvin wave, which reduced above-average temperatures at depth in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific (Fig. 4). In many respects, the atmospheric anomalies remained firmly coupled to the oceanic warming. Significant westerly winds were apparent in the western equatorial Pacific and anomalous upper-level easterly winds continued. The traditional and equatorial Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) were both negative, which are consistent with enhanced convection over the central and eastern equatorial Pacific and suppressed convection over Indonesia (Fig. 5). Collectively, these atmospheric and oceanic features reflect an ongoing and strengthening El Niño.

Nearly all models predict El Niño to continue into the Northern Hemisphere winter 2015-16, with many multi-model averages predicting a strong event at its peak strength (3-month values of the Niño-3.4 index of +1.5°C or greater; Fig. 6).  At this time, the forecaster consensus is in favor of a significant El Niño in excess of +1.5°C in the Niño-3.4 region. Overall, there is a greater than 90% chance that El Niño will continue through Northern Hemisphere winter 2015-16, and around an 80% chance it will last into early spring 2016 (click  CPC/IRI consensus forecast for the chance of each outcome).

Across the contiguous United States, temperature and precipitation impacts associated with El Niño are expected to remain minimal during the Northern Hemisphere summer and increase into the late fall and winter (the 3-month seasonal outlook will be updated on Thursday July 16th).   El Niño will likely be a contributor to a below normal Atlantic hurricane season, and above-normal hurricane seasons in both the central and eastern Pacific hurricane basins (click Hurricane season outlook for more).

This discussion is a consolidated effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA’s National Weather Service, and their funded institutions. Oceanic and atmospheric conditions are updated weekly on the Climate Prediction Center web site (El Niño/La Niña Current Conditions and Expert Discussions). Forecasts are also updated monthly in the Forecast Forum section of CPC’s Climate Diagnostics Bulletin. Additional perspectives and analysis are also available in an ENSO blog.

The next ENSO Diagnostics Discussion is scheduled for 13 August 2015. To receive an e-mail notification when the monthly ENSO Diagnostic Discussions are released, please send an e-mail message to: ncep.list.enso-update@noaa.gov.

Climate Prediction Center
National Centers for Environmental Prediction
NOAA/National Weather Service
College Park, MD 20740


CPC/IRI Early-Month Consensus ENSO Forecast Probabilities

 

Season La Niña Neutral El Niño
JJA 2015 ~0% 1% 99%
JAS 2015 ~0% 2% 98%
ASO 2015 ~0% 3% 97%
SON 2015 ~0% 4% 96%
OND 2015 1% 4% 95%
NDJ 2015 1% 5% 94%
DJF 2015 1% 8% 91%
JFM 2016 1% 11% 88%
FMA 2016 2% 17% 81%

IRI ENSO Forecast

IRI Technical ENSO Update

Published: July 16, 2015

Recent and Current Conditions

The SST anomaly in the NINO3.4 region was at a weak El Niño level from late February through mid-May 2015, when it increased to moderate strength and has continued to strengthen further.  For June the average NINO3.4 SST anomaly was 1.32 C, indicative of moderate Niño conditions, and for Mar-May it was 1.04 C. The IRI’s definition of El Niño, like NOAA/Climate Prediction Center’s, requires that the SST anomaly in the Nino3.4 region (5S-5N; 170W-120W) exceed 0.5 C. Similarly, for La Niña, the anomaly must be -0.5 C or less. The climatological probabilities for La Niña, neutral, and El Niño conditions vary seasonally, and are shown in a table at the bottom of this page for each 3-month season. The most recent weekly SST anomaly in the Nino3.4 region was 1.5 C, in the category of minimally strong El Niño, but it must retain this level for at least one calendar month for the event to be said to have reached the strong category.  Accompanying this SST has been an El Niño atmospheric pattern, including westerly low-level wind anomalies and positive anomalies of convection east of the dateline. The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and the equatorial SOI have also been indicative of El Niño conditions.

Expected Conditions

What is the outlook for the ENSO status going forward? The most recent official diagnosis and outlook was issued one week ago in the NOAA/Climate Prediction Center ENSO Diagnostic Discussion, produced jointly by CPC and IRI; it called for a greater than 90% likelihood for El Niño conditions continuing through winter 2015-16, and 80% to last into spring 2016. The latest set of model ENSO predictions, from mid-Jul, now available in the IRI/CPC ENSO prediction plume, is discussed below. Currently, weekly Nino3.4 SST anomalies are in the minimally stromg El Niño cagtegory. Subsurface temperature anomalies across the eastern equatorial Pacific have been well above average levels during the past 5 months as the downwelling phases of several Kelvin waves (one in the earlier months this year, and two in the more recent 2-3 months) have moved eastward at depth in response to westerly low-level wind anomalies over the course of the last 5 months. The positive heat content anomaly has promoted increases in SST over the last 2 months, and is likely to lead to still further SST increases in the coming months, depending on the strength and nature of the atmospheric-oceanic feedbacks. In the atmosphere, the basin-wide sea level pressure anomaly pattern (e.g. the SOI) has been at El Niño levels, subject to intraseasonal variability.  Anomalous convection (as measured by OLR) has been above average both near and to the east of the dateline.  Together, the oceanic and atmospheric features reflect moderate El Niño conditions for late June through mid-July, and minimally strong El Niño conditions on the less meaningful shorter time scale of the most recent week.

As of mid-July, none of the dynamical or statistical models models predicts La Niña or neutral SST conditions for the initial Jul-Sep 2015 season; 100% predicts El Niño conditions. At lead times of 3 or more months into the future, statistical and dynamical models that incorporate information about the ocean’s observed subsurface thermal structure generally exhibit higher predictive skill than those that do not. For the Oct-Dec 2015 season, among models that do use subsurface temperature information, 100% predicts El Niño SST conditions, while none predicts ENSO-neutral conditions and none predicts La Niña conditions. For all model types, the probabilities for El Niño are 100% for Jul-Sep through Jan-Mar 2016, dropping to 94% for Feb-Apr and 88 for Mar-May. No models predict La Niña conditions for any forecast period during 2015 and early 2016. Chances for neutral ENSO conditions is near 0% through Oct-Dec, 6% for Feb-Apr and 12% for Mar-May 2016.

Note  – Only models that produce a new ENSO prediction every month are included in the above statement.

Caution is advised in interpreting the distribution of model predictions as the actual probabilities. At longer leads, the skill of the models degrades, and skill uncertainty must be convolved with the uncertainties from initial conditions and differing model physics, leading to more climatological probabilities in the long-lead ENSO Outlook than might be suggested by the suite of models. Furthermore, the expected skill of one model versus another has not been established using uniform validation procedures, which may cause a difference in the true probability distribution from that taken verbatim from the raw model predictions.

An alternative way to assess the probabilities of the three possible ENSO conditions is more quantitatively precise and less vulnerable to sampling errors than the categorical tallying method used above. This alternative method uses the mean of the predictions of all models on the plume, equally weighted, and constructs a standard error function centered on that mean. The standard error is Gaussian in shape, and has its width determined by an estimate of overall expected model skill for the season of the year and the lead time. Higher skill results in a relatively narrower error distribution, while low skill results in an error distribution with width approaching that of the historical observed distribution. This method shows probabilities for La Niña at less than 1% for all periods from Jul-Sep through Mar-May 2016. Model probabilities for neutral ENSO conditions are 5% or less through Jan-Mar 2016, 7% for Feb-Apr and 14% for Mar-May 2016. Probabilities for El Niño are 95% or higher from Jul-Sep 2015 to Jan-Mar 2016, 93% for Feb-Apr and 86% for Mar-May 2016.  A plot of the probabilities generated from this most recent IRI/CPC ENSO prediction plume using the multi-model mean and the Gaussian standard error method summarizes the model consensus out to about 10 months into the future. The same cautions mentioned above for the distributional count of model predictions apply to this Gaussian standard error method of inferring probabilities, due to differing model biases and skills. In particular, this approach considers only the mean of the predictions, and not the total range across the models, nor the ensemble range within individual models.

The probabilities derived from the models on the IRI/CPC plume describe, on average, extremely high certainty for El Niño conditions for the Jul-Sep 2015 through Nov-Jan 2015-16 seasons, and still very high certainty through Feb-Apr 2016. In terms of magnitude, the models suggest strengthening El Niño conditions through northern autumn season, most likely peaking at the level of strong El Niño. Model spread definitely still exists, and peak event strength could range from about 1.5 to 2.5 C or even outside of that interval on either side. A caution regarding this latest set of model-based ENSO plume predictions, is that factors such as known specific model biases and recent changes that the models may have missed will be taken into account in the next official outlook to be generated and issued in early March by CPC and IRI, which will include some human judgement in combination with the model guidance.

 

 

Climatological Probabilities
Season La Niña Neutral El Niño
DJF 36% 30% 34%
JFM 34% 38% 28%
FMA 28% 49% 23%
MAM 23% 56% 21%
AMJ 21% 58% 21%
MJJ 21% 56% 23%
JJA 23% 54% 23%
JAS 25% 51% 24%
ASO 26% 47% 27%
SON 29% 39% 32%
OND 32% 33% 35%
NDJ 35% 29% 36%

 


IRI ENSO Forecast Histogram Image

IRI/CPC Mid-Month Plume-Based ENSO Forecast Probabilities

Season La Niña Neutral El Niño
JAS 2015 ~0% ~0% 100%
ASO 2015 ~0% 1% 99%
SON 2015 ~0% 1% 99%
OND 2015 ~0% 2% 98%
NDJ 2015 ~0% 3% 97%
DJF 2015 ~0% 4% 96%
JFM 2016 ~0% 4% 96%
FMA 2016 ~0% 7% 93%
MAM 2016 ~0% 14% 86%

ENSO Forecast

IRI Model-Based Probabilistic ENSO Forecast

Published: July 16, 2015

A purely objective ENSO probability forecast, based on regression, using as input the model predictions from the plume of dynamical and statistical forecasts shown in the ENSO Predictions Plume. Each of the forecasts is weighted equally. It is updated near or just after the middle of the month, using forecasts from the plume models that are run in the first half of the month. It does not use any human interpretation or judgment. This is updated on the third Thursday of the month.


IRI ENSO Forecast Histogram Image


IRI/CPC Mid-Month Plume-Based ENSO Forecast Probabilities

Season La Niña Neutral El Niño
JAS 2015 ~0% ~0% 100%
ASO 2015 ~0% 1% 99%
SON 2015 ~0% 1% 99%
OND 2015 ~0% 2% 98%
NDJ 2015 ~0% 3% 97%
DJF 2015 ~0% 4% 96%
JFM 2016 ~0% 4% 96%
FMA 2016 ~0% 7% 93%
MAM 2016 ~0% 14% 86%

ENSO Forecast

CPC Official Probabilistic ENSO Forecast

Published: July 9, 2015

The official CPC ENSO probability forecast, based on a consensus of CPC and IRI forecasters. It is updated during the first half of the month, in association with the official CPC ENSO Diagnostic Discussion. It is based on observational and predictive information from early in the month and from the previous month. It uses human judgment in addition to model output, while the forecast shown in the Model-Based Probabilistic ENSO Forecast relies solely on model output. This is updated on the second Thursday of every month.


NOAA?CPC ENSO Forecast Image
NOAA/CPC ENSO Forecast Graphic, courtesy of NOAA/CPC

CPC/IRI Early-Month Consensus ENSO Forecast Probabilities

 

Season La Niña Neutral El Niño
JJA 2015 ~0% 1% 99%
JAS 2015 ~0% 2% 98%
ASO 2015 ~0% 3% 97%
SON 2015 ~0% 4% 96%
OND 2015 1% 4% 95%
NDJ 2015 1% 5% 94%
DJF 2015 1% 8% 91%
JFM 2016 1% 11% 88%
FMA 2016 2% 17% 81%

ENSO Forecast

IRI ENSO Predictions Plume

Published: July 16, 2015

Note on interpreting model forecasts

The following graph and table show forecasts made by dynamical and statistical models for SST in the Nino 3.4 region for nine overlapping 3-month periods. Note that the expected skills of the models, based on historical performance, are not equal to one another. The skills also generally decrease as the lead time increases. Thirdly, forecasts made at some times of the year generally have higher skill than forecasts made at other times of the year--namely, they are better when made between June and December than when they are made between February and May. Differences among the forecasts of the models reflect both differences in model design, and actual uncertainty in the forecast of the possible future SST scenario.

Interactive Chart

You can highlight a specific model by hovering over it either on the chart or the legend. Selecting An item on the legend will toggle the visibility of the model on the page. You can also select DYN MODELS or STAT MODELS to toggle them all at once. Clicking on the "burger" menu above the legend will give you options to download the image or expand to full screen. If you have any feedback on this new feature, please let us know at webmaster@iri.columbia.edu.


List of Models Used


Forecast SST Anomalies (deg C) in the Nino 3.4 Region

Seasons (2015-2016)
Model JAS ASO SON OND NDJ DJF JFM FMA MAM
Dynamical models
NCEP CFS version 2 2 2.5 2.9 3 2.7 2.2 1.7 1.2
NASA GMAO model 2.5 2.8 2.9 3 3.1 3.1 2.9
Japan Met. Agency model 1.6 1.9 2.2 2.5 2.4
Scripps Inst. HCM 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.1
Lamont-Doherty model 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8
POAMA (Austr) model 2 2.2 2.1 2.1 2.1 1.9 1.6
ECMWF model 2 2.4 2.7 3 3
UKMO model 2 2.2 2.2 2.2
KMA (Korea) SNU model 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.1 1 0.9
ESSIC Intermed. Coupled model 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.4 0.9 0.5
COLA CCSM3 model 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.4 2 1.3 0.6
MÉTÉO FRANCE model 2.5 2.8 2.8 2.7 2.4
CSIR-IRI 3-model MME 0.9 1.1 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.2
GFDL CM2.1 Coupled Climate model 1.8 2 2 2.1 2 2 1.8 1.6 1.5
Canadian Coupled Fcst Sys 2.4 2.8 2.9 3 3 2.7 2.2 1.7 1.1
1.6 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.7 1.4 1.1
Average, dynamical models 1.8 2 2.1 2.2 2.1 1.9 1.7 1.3 1.1
Statistical models
NCEP/CPC Markov model 1.6 1.8 2 2.1 2.2 2.2 2 1.7 1.4
NOAA/CDC Linear Inverse 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4
NCEP/CPC Constructed Analog 1 1.2 1.5 1.9 2.1 2 1.7 1.4 1
NCEP/CPC Can Cor Anal 0.9 0.9 1 1.1 1 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.5
Landsea/Knaff CLIPER 0.9 1.4 1.8 2.2 2 1.9 1.7 1.4 1.1
Univ. BC Neural Network 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.2 1
FSU Regression 1.4 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.2 2 1.6 1.2 0.9
TCD – UCLA 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.5 1.2 0.8
Average, statistical models 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.7 1.6 1.4 1.1 0.9
Average, all models 1.6 1.7 1.9 2 2 1.8 1.6 1.3 1

Discussion of Current Forecasts

Most of the set of dynamical and statistical model predictions issued during late June and early July 2015 predict strengthening El Niño SST conditions through northern summer and the first half of fall 2015, with El Niño continuing throughout the rest of 2015 and into early 2016. Continuation of El Niño conditions appears at least 95% likely from the current Jun-Aug 2015 season through to the Dec-Feb 2015-16 season, as the average of all models predicts El Niño amplification to at least high-moderate, but more likely strong, levels. El Niño probabilities remain over 90% through late winter 2016, and fall below 90% beginning Mar-May 2016. There is still spread among the individual model predictions, dynamical models showing  stronger El Niño predictions than statistical ones. Many models predict peak SST anomaly values between 1.5 and 2.5C, although some are outside of that interval on either side. In the most recent week, the SST anomaly in the Nino3.4 region was 1.5 C, reflecting minimally strong El Niño conditions in this weekly time scale which is too short to state that the event has attained a strong level. Most of the atmospheric variables also reflect El Niño, including lower and upper level wind anomalies, and the pattern of anomalous convection. The monthly anomalous SSTs in the Niño3.4 region were 1.03 and 1.32 C for May and June, respectively. Based on the multi-model mean predictions, and the expected skill of the models by start time and lead time, the probabilities (X100) for La Niña, neutral and El Niño conditions (using -0.5C and 0.5C thresholds) over the coming 9 seasons are:

IRI/CPC Mid-Month Plume-Based ENSO Forecast Probabilities

Season La Niña Neutral El Niño
JAS 2015 ~0% ~0% 100%
ASO 2015 ~0% 1% 99%
SON 2015 ~0% 1% 99%
OND 2015 ~0% 2% 98%
NDJ 2015 ~0% 3% 97%
DJF 2015 ~0% 4% 96%
JFM 2016 ~0% 4% 96%
FMA 2016 ~0% 7% 93%
MAM 2016 ~0% 14% 86%

Summary of forecasts issued over last 22 months

The following interactive plot shows the model forecasts issued not only from the current month (as in the plot above), but also from the 21 months previous to this month. The observations are shown up to the most recently completed 3-month period. The plots allow comparison of plumes from the previous start times, or examination of the forecast behavior of a given model over time.
Hovering over any single model will highlight that particular model in the chart.
Clicking a particular model will hide/show that model in the chart.
At the bottom of the plot, you can select which models to show in the chart: all the models, the dynamical models only, or the statistical models only.


Notes on the data 

Only models producing forecasts on a monthly basis are included. This means that some models whose forecasts appear in the Experimental Long-Lead Forecast Bulletin (produced by COLA) do not appear in the table.

Once an IRI ENSO probability forecast has been published, the results stand even if a model reports an error and changes their data. When this happens we will update the plume with the model's correct values even though our forecast hasn't changed. What this means is that our forecast is always the same, but the underlying data may be different from what we based our forecast on.

The SST anomaly forecasts are for the 3-month periods shown, and are for the Nino 3.4 region (120-170W, 5N-5S). Often, the anomalies are provided directly in a graph or a table by the respective forecasting centers for the Nino 3.4 region. In some cases, however, they are given for 1-month periods, for 3-month periods that skip some of the periods in the above table, and/or only for a region (or regions) other than Nino 3.4. In these cases, the following means are used to obtain the needed anomalies for the table:

  • Temporal averaging
  • Linear temporal interpolation
  • Visual averaging of values on a contoured map

The anomalies shown are those with respect to the base period used to define the normals, which vary among the groups producing model forecasts. They have not been adjusted to anomalies with respect to a common base period. Discrepancies among the climatological SST resulting from differing base periods may be as high as a quarter of a degree C in the worst cases. Forecasters are encouraged to use the standard 1991-2020 period as the base period, or a period not very different from it.

Historical SST Anomalies Image

The CPC ENSO forecast is released at 9am (Eastern Time) on the second Thursday of each month.

The IRI ENSO forecast is released on the 19th of each month. If the 19th falls on a weekend or holiday, it is released on the closest business day.

All data from this website is covered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. When citing IRI ENSO images or data, please use "Images [or Data] provided by The International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia University Climate School", with a link to https://iri.columbia.edu/ENSO.