Articles | Volume 17, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1585-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/os-17-1585-2021
Research article
 | 
08 Nov 2021
Research article |  | 08 Nov 2021

On the low western Pacific sea levels observed prior to strong East Pacific El Niños

David J. Webb

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Cited articles

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Bourdallé-Badie, R., Bell, M., Chanut, J., Clementi, E., Coward, A., Drudi, M., Éthé, C., Iovino, D., Lea, D., Lévy, C., Madec, G., Martin, N., Masson, S., Mathiot, P., Mocavero, S., Müller, S., Nurser, G., Samson, G., and Storkey, D.: “NEMO ocean engine”, Scientific Notes of Climate Modelling Center, 27 – ISSN 1288–1619, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1464816, 2019. a
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Short summary
Research on strong El Niños has shown that they may be a result of a stronger-than-normal North Equatorial Counter Current, itself triggered by lower-than-normal sea levels that develop early in the year. A numerical model study of the 1981–1982 El Niño shows that the low sea levels are due to local winds in the west Pacific, and this is shown also to be true for the 1997–1998 and 2015–2016 El Niños. As a result, we now have a much better understanding of the mechanism causing strong El Niños.