Kelvin-wave-induced anomalous advection and the onset of surface warming in El Nino events.

Abstract

The initial surface warming of the 1982 El Nino event was of quite different timing and pattern from that associated with most El Nino events; strong anomalous warming occurred first in July along the equator and subsequently along the South American coast. We show here that a simple advection model for tropical ocean surface warming can produce anomalous sea-surface temperature (SST) fields like those found in the first few months of the 1982 El Nino.-from Authors