Key facts
- The Niño 3.4 index is currently at +0.5°C.
- This value is significantly behind the 1997 El Niño event's comparable measurement.
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a climate pattern that describes the fluctuations in sea surface temperature (SST) in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean, and the atmospheric conditions that accompany them. ENSO has three states: El Niño, neutral, and La Niña. El Niño is associated with warmer-than-average SSTs in the Niño 3.4 region, which can have significant impacts on global weather patterns, including temperature and precipitation. Monitoring these anomalies is crucial for forecasting seasonal weather.