Examples of Cool/Warm SSTA Regions and Climate Influences
10/02/2026, 9:02 am EDT
Climate Impact Company Weekly ENSO Climate Diagnostics
Issued: Monday October 5, 2026
Highlight: Super El Nino continues to intensify!
Discussion: The upper ocean heat anomalies from September 2026 continued to warm to unprecedented levels. Anomalies are, by far, the strongest on record and identify the exceptional potential energy to fuel Super El Nino (Fig. 1). The weekly SSTA observations in the Nino regions (also) convey the steady warming to record levels. The Nino12 SSTA region, off the northwest coast of South America, is at an unheard of +5.1C anomaly last week (Fig. 2). The Nino34 and Nino3 SSTA regions are (also) at record levels. Unlike Super El Nino of 1982-83, 1997-98, and 2015-16 when Q4 of that year indicated a leveling oceanic warming, the 2026 Super El Nino continues to warm with no slowing in sight.
Fig. 1: Monthly upper ocean heat anomalies across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
Fig. 2: The 12-week Nino SSTA monitor identify the evolution of record warm Nino34, Nino3, and Nino12 regions.