Genesis and Development of the Warming-Stalled Easterly Wind Anomalies in 2014

At the beginning of 2014, the sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) in the central and eastern Pacific were expected to exceed 2 Degrees Celsius in the peak season according to many climate models. However, the development of the warming event was stalled in summer by a serious of Easterly wind anomalies (EWAs) in the equatorial central Pacific.

The EWAs prevented the eastward propagation of warm water immediately, meanwhile, triggered a cold Kelvin wave which propagated to the central and eastern Pacific and cooled down the local SST. In addition to the influences of the EWAs, the genesis and development were also investigated in this study. EWAs were firstly observed over the southeastern Pacific at the end of 2013, which were partly attributed to the relative low local SST. Such EWAs sustained till the southeast trade wind reinforced in June, and then propagated to the equatorial Pacific later, stalling the development of warming.