According to NOAA/SFSC the 2022 Northeast Pacific "warm blob" (NEP22A) has reached a sufficient intensity and aerial coverage making NEP22A the 4th most intense in the 40-year record. This feature, semi-permanent since 2014, has been well-correlated to a persistent upper-level pattern in the northern hemisphere featuring a drought-enhancing western North America drought and presence of a "polar vortex" sometimes capable of delivering extreme cold to the U.S. during winter.

Another extreme rainfall event has struck Australia, this time centered on parts of the Victoria State including the city of Melbourne. The extreme rainfall events have become commonplace in southeast Queensland, eastern New South Wales and into Victoria during the past 2 years. La Nina is certainly a contributor to the wet pattern. However, the excessive character of the coastal rains may be related to the semi-permanent “warm blob” of SSTA surrounding New Zealand and stretching eastward across the subtropical South Pacific Ocean.