The influence of pacific winds on ENSO diversity

Abstract

Abstract The differences in ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) spatial patterns, whether centered in the Eastern Pacific (EP), Central Pacific (CP) or in the eastern-central equatorial region (“canonical”) have been associated to differences in atmospheric teleconnections and global impacts. However, predicting different types of ENSO events has proved challenging, highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of their predictability. Given the key role played by wind variations in the development and evolution of ENSO events, this study examines the relationship between the leading modes of Pacific surface wind speed variability and ENSO diversity using three different state-of-the-art wind products, including satellite observations and atmospheric reanalyses. Although previous studies have associated different ENSO precursors to either EP or CP events, our results indicate that the most prominent of those ENSO precursors are primarily related to canonical and CP events, and show little correlation with EP events. The latter are associated with tropical Pacific conditions favoring equatorial westerly wind and precipitation anomalies that extend all the way to the eastern Pacific. Results over the entire twentieth century period versus those during the satellite era also suggest that the influences from the Southern Hemisphere may be more robust than those from the Northern Hemisphere.