April 2026 Sea Surface Temperature Analysis
In April 2026, the sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly pattern generally reflected ENSO-neutral conditions, with notable warming emerging across most Niño regions in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.
Warm to slightly warm SST anomalies were present in the Philippine Sea, as well as in both the monitored northern and southern regions of the Tripole Pacific Index (TPI).
Meanwhile, considerable parts of the central North Pacific were considerably warmer, indicative of a negative PDO.
In the Indian Ocean, slightly warmer SST anomalies in both the western and eastern ocean (i.e., WIO and EIO) suggest a neutral Indian Ocean Dipole (i.e., IOD). Overall, the basin exhibited a weakly positive Indian Ocean Basin-Wide (IOBW) signal, characterized by generally warmer conditions.
Lastly, the tropical North Atlantic (i.e., TNA) indicates average to slightly cooler SST anomalies.
The maps on the right (top to bottom) indicate the observed SST for April 2026 and the climatological normal from 1991 to 2020, providing context for the SST anomaly maps.
