{"id":8063,"date":"2015-04-28T17:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T11:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=8063"},"modified":"2026-06-18T16:40:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:10:49","slug":"el-nino-criteria","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/?page_id=8063","title":{"rendered":"El Nino Declaration Criteria"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4>El Nino Declaration Criteria<\/h4>\n<p>There are various International agencies monitoring the ENSO conditions. El Nino declaration is based on the SST anomaly over the regions known as Nino regions and is located over the equatorial Pacific ocean as shown in the map.<br \/>\n(source: BOM, Australia)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/oceanic-indices-map.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-8154\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/oceanic-indices-map.gif\" alt=\"oceanic-indices-map\" width=\"685\" height=\"244\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Nino 1 : Latitude 0\u00b0 to 5\u00b0 S &amp; Longitude 80\u00b0 W to 90\u00b0 W<\/p>\n<p>Nino 2 : Latitude 5\u00b0 S to 10\u00b0 S &amp; Longitude 80\u00b0 W to 90\u00b0 W<\/p>\n<p>Nino 3 : Latitude 5\u00b0N to 5\u00b0 S &amp; Longitude 90\u00b0 W to 150\u00b0 W<\/p>\n<p>Nino 3.4 : Latitude 5\u00b0 N to 5\u00b0 S &amp; Longitude 120\u00b0 W to 170\u00b0 W<\/p>\n<p>Nino 4 : Latitude 5\u00b0N to 5\u00b0 S &amp; Longitude 160\u00b0 E to\u00a0150\u00b0 W<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4>As per\u00a0<strong>NOAA of the U.S.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The Oceanic Nino Index:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The ONI is based on SST departures from average in the Ni\u00f1o 3.4 region, and is a principal measure for monitoring, assessing, and predicting ENSO.\u00a0Defined as the three-month running-mean SST departures in the Ni\u00f1o 3.4 region. Departures are based on a set of further improved homogeneous historical SST analyses (Extended Reconstructed SST \u2013 ERSST.v5). Explanation about ERSST.v5 is given\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncdc.noaa.gov\/data-access\/marineocean-data\/extended-reconstructed-sea-surface-temperature-ersst-v5\">here.<\/a> It is one index that helps to place current events into a historical perspective.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>NOAA Operational Definitions for El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>El Ni\u00f1o: characterized by a positive ONI greater than or equal to +0.5\u00baC. La Ni\u00f1a: characterized by a negative ONI less than or equal to -0.5\u00baC. By historical standards, to be classified as a full-fledged El Ni\u00f1o or La Ni\u00f1a episode, these thresholds must be exceeded for a period of at least 5 consecutive overlapping 3-month seasons.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>The New Relative Oceanic Nino Index &#8211; RONI:<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>NCEP CPC has defined El Ni\u00f1o (La Ni\u00f1a) as a relative, positive (negative) mean SST anomaly of 0.5 degrees C or greater over 3<br \/>\nconsecutive months in the Ni\u00f1o 3.4 region of the central Pacific Ocean (5degrees N to 5 degrees S and 120 degrees W to 170 degrees W). This anomaly is computed by subtracting the average SST anomaly of the global tropics (20 degrees N to 20 degrees S) from the Ni\u00f1o 3.4 regional anomaly. After the subtraction, the relative index is rescaled to match the amplitude of the traditional index. The Relative Oceanic Ni\u00f1o Index (RONI) is defined as the three month running average of the relative Ni\u00f1o 3.4 index. Historical El Ni\u00f1o and La Ni\u00f1a events will be categorized based on this index, specifically when there are five or more consecutive, overlapping three-month seasons where the RONI is greater than 0.5C (El Ni\u00f1o) or less than -0.5C (La Ni\u00f1a).<br \/>\nThe RONI is visually very similar to the traditional ONI, so users can use it in the same way as they would the traditional ONI.<\/p>\n<p>CPC considers El Ni\u00f1o or La Ni\u00f1a conditions to occur when the monthly Ni\u00f1o3.4 OISST departures meet or exceed +\/- 0.5\u00baC along with consistent atmospheric features. These anomalies must also be forecasted to persist for 3 consecutive months.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The other important agency monitoring the ENSO is the\u00a0<strong>Australian Government \u2013 Bureau of Meteorology.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Bureau of Meteorology, Australia:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>For declaration of an El Nino event any three of the following criteria need to be satisfied:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sea surface temperature:<\/strong>\u00a0Temperatures in the NINO3 or NINO3.4 regions of the Pacific Ocean are 0.8\u00a0\u00b0C warmer than average.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Winds:<\/strong>\u00a0Trade winds have been weaker than average in the western or central equatorial Pacific Ocean during any three of the last four months.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>SOI:<\/strong>\u00a0The three-month average SOI is \u20137 or lower.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><strong>\u00a0Japan Meteorological Agency<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>JMA uses the SST anomaly of Nino.3 region for monitoring and declaring EL Nino or La Nina event.<\/p>\n<p>JMA defines that the El Ni\u00f1o (La Ni\u00f1a) is such that the 5-month running mean SST deviation for NINO.3 continues +0.5\u00baC (-0.5\u00baC) or higher (lower) for six consecutive months or longer.<\/p>\n<div align=\"left\">\n<p>The SST is monthly mean sea surface temperature averaged over NINO.3 (5\u00baN-5\u00baS, 150\u00baW-90\u00baW).<\/p>\n<p>The SST deviation for NINO.3 is defined as the difference between the monthly mean SST and the climatological mean based on a sliding 30-year period.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>El Nino Declaration Criteria There are various International agencies monitoring the ENSO conditions. El Nino declaration is based on the SST anomaly over the regions known as Nino regions and is located over the equatorial Pacific ocean as shown in <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/?page_id=8063\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-8063","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8063"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52611,"href":"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8063\/revisions\/52611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gujaratweather.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}