The Nino34 SSTA cooled to the El Nino threshold (+0.5C) last week while the entire Nino SSTA region averaged +0.5C, which is slightly warmer than much of April. Notably, the Nino12 SSTA off the northwest coast of South America warmed dramatically the past 2 weeks. Meanwhile, in the subsurface, the cooling necessary to cause an ENSO phase change from El Nino to La Nina continued. In April, the subsurface equatorial Pacific was cooler and firmly within the La Nina threshold.

NOAA issued their fire risk outlook last week. In review, the May 2024 risk highlights Southeast Arizona, parts of eastern New Mexico, and north-central Florida as susceptible to fire development and expansion due to dry soils. Note that all the Hawaiian Islands are in a similar risk throughout the next 4 months. Also note the lack of fire risk in California into mid-summer due to plentiful soil moisture largely created by runoff from snowmelt.