Investigation 9B: ¡EL NIÑO!
1. "Examine Figure 1, the neutral (long-term average or normal) conditions in the tropical
Pacific Ocean from about Borneo in the western Pacific Ocean to the west coast of South
America (greatly exaggerated in the vertical scale). The scene depicts the ocean surface
with atmosphere above and a cross-section of the ocean below. Fair weather appears in
the eastern tropical Pacific (near 80 degrees W) while the cloud diagram implies that
________ weather prevails in the western Pacific (near 120 degrees E)." fair stormy 2. "The large-scale motions in the atmosphere show a convection cell (convective loop).
The bold dark arrows show that air is rising in the stormy weather area of the western
Pacific and ________ in the eastern tropical Pacific." rising sinking
3. "The bold black arrow along the ocean surface in the convective loop represents the trade
winds and points in the direction toward which the prevailing winds are blowing in the
equatorial region. As indicated by the arrows, winds during neutral (long-term average)
conditions blow toward the ________ along the equator." east west
4. "The large white, open arrows provide surface ocean current information. The surface
current arrows indicate that during neutral conditions, surface water flows towards the
________ driven by the prevailing winds." east west 5. "Colored areas on the top of the block diagram portion of the figure denote sea surface
temperatures (SST) during neutral conditions. The red colored area in the western Pacific
denotes the highest SST. These highest SST occur under ________ in the tropical Pacific.
This SST pattern is caused by relatively strong trade winds pushing sun-warmed surface
water westward, as indicated by the direction of surface current arrows." considerable cloudiness clear skies
6. "Strong trade winds also cause the warm surface waters to pile up in the western tropical
Pacific so that the sea surface in the western Pacific is somewhat higher than in the
eastern Pacific. Transport of surface waters to the west also causes the thermocline (the
transition zone between warm surface water and cold deep water shown by the blue layer
in the ocean side view) to be ________ in the eastern tropical Pacific than in the western
Pacific." deeper shallower
7. "Warm surface water transported by the wind away from the South American coast is
replaced by cold water rising from below in a process called upwelling. Upwelling of
cold deep water results in relatively ________ SST in the eastern Pacific compared to the
western Pacific." high low
8. "Cold surface water cools the air above it, which leads to increases in the surface air
pressure. Warm surface water adds heat and water vapor to the atmosphere, lowering the
surface air pressure. These air-sea interactions result in tropical surface air pressure being
highest in the ________ tropical Pacific." eastern western
9. "Whenever air pressure changes over distance, a force will move air from where the
pressure is relatively high to where pressure is relatively low. The trade winds blow from
east to the west because from east to west the surface air pressure ________." increases decreases
10. "Rainfall in the tropical Pacific is also related to SST patterns. There are reasons for this
relationship. The higher the SST, the greater the rate of evaporation of seawater and the
more vigorous the atmospheric convection. Consequently, during neutral conditions,
rainfall is greatest in the western tropical Pacific where SST are ________." highest lowest 11. "Figure 2 shows atmospheric and oceanic conditions during El Niño. Compared to Figure
1 (neutral or long-term average conditions), the area of stormy weather during El Niño
has moved ________. While no two El Niño episodes are exactly alike, all of them
exhibit most of the characteristics shown in the El Niño schematic of Figure 2. With the
onset of El Niño, tropical surface air pressure patterns change. Compare El Niño
conditions in the western and central tropical Pacific with the neutral conditions of Figure
1. During neutral conditions, surface air pressure in the central Pacific is higher
(accompanied by fair weather) than to the west. During El Niño, the surface air pressure
to the west is higher than in the central Pacific. This reversal in the atmospheric pressure
pattern, called the southern oscillation, was first studied in an attempt to explain monsoon
failure and drought in India. eastward westward 12. "In response to changes in the air pressure pattern across the tropical Pacific, the trade
winds weaken (and wind directions can reverse, especially in the western Pacific as
shown by the bold dark arrows). No longer being pushed toward and piled up in the
western Pacific, the warm surface water reverses flow direction. As shown by the surface
currents arrows, the surface water during El Niño flows toward the east. As evident in the
appropriate sea surface temperature shading, this causes SST in the eastern tropical
Pacific to be ________ than during neutral conditions." higher lower
13. "In response to changes in surface currents, sea surface heights in the eastern tropical
Pacific are higher than during neutral conditions. At the same time, the arrival of the
warmer water in the east causes the surface warm-water layer to thicken. Evidence of this
is the ________ depth of the thermocline to the east compared with neutral conditions." shallower deeper 14. "Figure 3 shows atmospheric and oceanic conditions during La Niña. At times the
tropical Pacific experiences trade winds stronger than neutral conditions with SST lower
than usual in the eastern tropical Pacific and higher than usual in the western tropical
Pacific. Because stronger trade winds produce stronger surface currents during La Niña,
the warm water is pushed westward and colder water wells up to cause below-average
SST in the eastern tropical Pacific. It also follows that SST in the western tropical Pacific
must be ________ than during a typical El Niño episode." higher lower 15. "Changes in surface air pressure, areas of large-scale convection, and upper air flow
patterns as shown in Figures 2 and 3 alter the planetary wind circulation and affect the
weather elsewhere in the world. Figure 4 shows some weather patterns that have been
statistically associated with El Niño conditions. This figure shows that during our
Northern Hemisphere winter when El Niño is taking place, the southeastern states are
usually ________ than normal. Figure 5 shows some weather patterns linked to La Niña
conditions." drier and warmer wetter and cooler Applications 16. "The most recent reporting of TAO surface data at this writing is presented in Figure 7.
The upper panel of Figure 7 depicts the five-day mean tropical Pacific sea surface
temperatures (SST) and wind conditions ending on November 3, 2015. The SST are
represented with isotherms drawn at half-Celsius degree intervals and color shading
indicated by the right-side scale. Wind directions are shown by arrows originating at the
buoy sites while the lengths of the arrows depict the relative wind speeds. The shading
and isotherms indicate that the warmest waters across the tropical Pacific are located near
________ longitude. [Note, the Pacific east of 180° longitude (generally the International
Dateline) has W(est) numbered longitudes while the Pacific west of 180° has E(ast)
numbers measured west and east, respectively, from the Prime Meridian. 155° E 175° W 115° W 17. "Across most of the tropical Pacific, the winds were directed generally from ________
and are strongest in the eastern Pacific." west to east east to west
18. "Considering the isotherms and the shading scale for temperature anomalies to the right,
the magnitudes in the greatest positive SST anomalies are between ________ Celsius
degrees." 1.0 and 2.0 2.0 and 3.0 3.0 and 3.5
19. "The location of the greatest positive SST anomalies was about ________ longitude." 160° E 160° W
120° W
20. "The broad pattern of current SST anomalies across the tropical Pacific region, in
general, shows values that are: ________." negative across nearly the entire equatorial Pacific positive across nearly the entire equatorial Pacific negative over eastern half of the region and positive over the western half positive over eastern half of the region and negative over the western half 21. "The anomalous winds along the equator across the tropical Pacific were generally
________ across the tropical Pacific." all strongly from the east all strongly from the west either very light or from the east either very light or from the west 22. "The top view of Figure 8, November 1997 Means, displays the average SST and surface
winds for the month of November 1997. The sea surface temperatures across the region
ranged from about 26 °C as the “coolest” in the southeast corner to about 30 °C as the
“warmest” just south of the Equator. These highest SST were located at about ________
longitude in the tropical Pacific." 170° W 120° W
23. "The wind directions in the eastern Pacific were generally from the southeast. In the
western Pacific, along the Equator (between about 140° E and 150° W), winds were
generally light with most blowing from the west. Compare these observed winds and SST
in Figure 8 with the depiction in Figure 2, where surface winds are the horizontal black
arrows and the SST are color coded. The observations and the schematic model generally
________ consistent. are are not 24. "The SST anomalies in the eastern Pacific were positive, with the greatest values being
slightly more than ________ C°. SST anomalies along the equator were also almost all
positive. The location, degree and duration of the warm SST anomalies are what define
the El Niño situation." 1.5 4.5 7.5
25. "Now examine Figure 9. These are the tropical Pacific average SST and wind conditions
for November 1998, one year after Figure 8, showing that La Niña conditions had
replaced El Niño. For November 1998, the sea-surface temperatures along the Equator in
the eastern Pacific were near 22 °C, several degrees ________ than those of the same
area during the El Niño in November 1997. The winds across the entire Pacific area
(Figure 9 Means) were generally blowing from east to west at that time. The warmest
waters were found in the extreme western Pacific." warmer cooler 26. "These observed winds and SST in November 1998 generally ________ consistent with
the depiction of those in Figure 3 of this activity for a La Niña." are are not 27. "The lower panel of November 1998 Anomalies shows the Pacific SST anomalies along
the Equator being almost all negative, denoted by the dashed lines, with negative
departures dropping below ________ C°. This relatively cool [compared to the long-term
average or Neutral (“Normal”) Conditions] water is characteristic of La Niña." –2 –3
28. "Examine the SST anomaly field in the critical region box you drew, and estimate its
average anomaly temperature. The average SST anomaly of the box area shows that the
November 2015 tropical Pacific pattern is consistent with ________ conditions." La Niña El Niño
29. The CPC discussion and SST and wind anomalies of Figure 7 best match the existence of
________ conditions. For the several months prior to November 2015, above-normal
temperatures (positive anomalies) had covered most of the equatorial Pacific. The
forecast suggested that those warm conditions may remain El Niño conditions through
winter of 2015-16. This expectation comes from a consensus of the ocean-atmosphere
indicators and ENSO numerical models." La Niña El Niño

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