Why were the 2015/2016 and 1997/1998 extreme El Niños different?

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 44; no. 4; pp. 1848 - 1856
• Main Authors: Paek, Houk, Yu, Jin‐Yi, Qian, Chengcheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington John Wiley & Sons, Inc 28.02.2017
• Subjects: 1997/1998 El Niño; 2015/2016 El Niño; Anomalies; Climate; Coastal environments; Convection; Decay; Dynamics; El Nino; El Nino phenomena; Evolution; extreme El Niño; La Nina; Marine; Meteorology; Ocean temperature; Rainfall; Sea surface; Sea surface temperature; Surface temperature; Temperature; Thermocline; Thermocline variations; Wave dynamics; Wave packets; United States > US; Pacific Ocean; I, Central Pacific; North America

Subtle but important differences are identified between the 1997/1998 and 2015/2016 extreme El Niños that reflect fundamental differences in their underlying dynamics. The 1997/1998 event is found to evolve following the eastern Pacific El Niño dynamics that relies on basin‐wide thermocline variatio...