Contrasting the Skills and Biases of Deterministic Predictions for the Two Types of El Nio

The tropical Pacific has begun to experience a new type of El Nio, which has occurred particularly frequently during the last decade, referred to as the central Pacific(CP) El Nio. Various coupled models with different degrees of complexity have been used to make real-time El Nio predictions, but high uncertainty still exists in their forecasts. It remains unknown as to how much of this uncertainty is specifically related to the new CP-type El Nio and how much is common to both this type and the conventional Eastern Pacific(EP)-type El Nio. In this study, the deterministic performance of an El Nio–Southern Oscillation(ENSO) ensemble prediction system is examined for the two types of El Nio. Ensemble hindcasts are run for the nine EP El Nio events and twelve CP El Nio events that have occurred since 1950. The results show that(1) the skill scores for the EP events are significantly better than those for the CP events, at all lead times;(2) the systematic forecast biases come mostly from the prediction of the CP events; and(3) the systematic error is characterized by an overly warm eastern Pacific during the spring season, indicating a stronger spring prediction barrier for the CP El Nio. Further improvements to coupled atmosphere–ocean models in terms of CP El Nio prediction should be recognized as a key and high-priority task for the climate prediction community.     

Nonlinearity Modulating Intensities and Spatial Structures of Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Nio Events

This paper compares data from linearized and nonlinear Zebiak–Cane model, as constrained by observed sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA), in simulating central Pacific(CP) and eastern Pacific(EP) El Nio. The difference between the temperature advections(determined by subtracting those of the linearized model from those of the nonlinear model),referred to here as the nonlinearly induced temperature advection change(NTA), is analyzed. The results demonstrate that the NTA records warming in the central equatorial Pacific during CP El Nio and makes fewer contributions to the structural distinctions of the CP El Nio, whereas it records warming in the eastern equatorial Pacific during EP El Nio, and thus significantly promotes EP El Nio during El Nio–type selection. The NTA for CP and EP El Nio varies in its amplitude,and is smaller in CP El Nio than it is in EP El Nio. These results demonstrate that CP El Nio are weakly modulated by small intensities of NTA, and may be controlled by weak nonlinearity; whereas, EP El Nio are significantly enhanced by large amplitudes of NTA, and are therefore likely to be modulated by relatively strong nonlinearity. These data could explain why CP El Nio are weaker than EP El Nio. Because the NTA for CP and EP El Nio differs in spatial structures and intensities, as well as their roles within different El Nio modes, the diversity of El Nio may be closely related to changes in the nonlinear characteristics of the tropical Pacific.     

Different Impact of Central Pacific and Eastern Pacific El Nio on the Duration of Sudden Stratospheric Warming

The NCEP–NCAR reanalysis dataset and the Had ISST dataset(1959–2014) are used to analyze the impact of two types of El Nio events, i.e., eastern Pacific El Nio(EP-El Nio) and central Pacific El Nio(CP-El Nio) events, on the duration of major and minor sudden stratospheric warmings(SSWs) in Northern Hemisphere winter(November to February). Although the frequency of major and minor SSWs during different types of El Nio shows no distinct differences, the duration of both major and minor SSWs during CP-El Nio is shorter than that during EP-El Nio. The spatial distribution of geopotential height anomalies preceding major SSWs resembles the western Pacific(WP) teleconnection pattern, while the spatial distribution of geopotential height anomalies preceding minor SSWs bears similarity to the Pacific–North America(PNA)teleconnection pattern. An enhancement of the strength of both wavenumber 1 and wavenumber 2 is found before major SSWs. Before minor SSWs, wavenumber 1 is also strengthened, but wavenumber 2 is weakened. The analysis also reveals that EP-El Nio tends to induce positive phases of PNA and WP teleconnections, while CP-El Nio induces negative-phase WP teleconnection. As the positive phases of the PNA and WP teleconnections are related to the strengthening of wavenumber 1, EP-El Nio causes an enhancement of wavenumber 1 in the high-latitude upper troposphere and an enhancement of the upward wave flux in the high-latitude stratosphere, accompanied by a negative anomaly in Eliassen–Palm flux divergence in the subpolar stratosphere, which accounts for the longer SSW duration during EP-El Nio than during CP-El Nio.     

Influence of the Eastern Pacific and Central Pacific Types of ENSO on the South Asian Summer Monsoon

Based on observational and reanalysis data,the relationships between the eastern Pacific(EP)and central Pacific(CP)types of El Ni?o?Southern Oscillation(ENSO)during the developing summer and the South Asian summer monsoon(SASM)are examined.The roles of these two types of ENSO on the SASM experienced notable multidecadal modulation in the late 1970s.While the inverse relationship between the EP type of ENSO and the SASM has weakened dramatically,the CP type of ENSO plays a far more prominent role in producing anomalous Indian monsoon rainfall after the late 1970s.The drought-producing El Ni?o warming of both the EP and CP types can excite anomalous rising motion of the Walker circulation concentrated in the equatorial central Pacific around 160°W to the date line.Accordingly,compensatory subsidence anomalies are evident from the Maritime Continent to the Indian subcontinent,leading to suppressed convection and decreased precipitation over these regions.Moreover,anomalously less moisture flux into South Asia associated with developing EP El Ni?o and significant northwesterly anomalies dominating over southern India accompanied by developing CP El Ni?o,may also have been responsible for the Indian monsoon droughts during the pre-1979 and post-1979 sub-periods,respectively.El Ni?o events with the same“flavor”may not necessarily produce consistent Indian monsoon rainfall anomalies,while similar Indian monsoon droughts may be induced by different types of El Ni?o,implying high sensitivity of monsoonal precipitation to the detailed configuration of ENSO forcing imposed on the tropical Pacific.     

Connections Between Different Types of El Nio and Southern/Northern Oscillation

It has long been acknowledged that there are two types of El Nio events, i.e., the eastern Pacific El Nio (EE) and the central Pacific El Nio (CE), according to the initial position of the anomalous warm water and its propagation direction. In this paper, the oceanic and atmospheric evolutions and the possible mechanisms of the two types of El Nio events were examined. It is found that all the El Nio events, CE or EE, could be attributed to the joint impacts of the eastward advection of warm water from...     

Sensitivity Difference in the Extratropical Atmosphere to Two Types of El Nio Events

A comparison of sensitivity in extratropical circulation in the Northern Hemisphere(NH)and Southern Hemisphere(SH)is conducted through observational analyses and diagnostic linear model experiments for two types of El Nio events,the traditional El Nio with the strongest warmth in the eastern tropical Pacific(EP El Nio)and the El Nio Modoki with the strongest warmth in the central tropical Pacific(CP El Nio).It is shown that CP El Nio favors the occurrence of a negative-phase Northern Annular Mode(NAM),while EP El Nio favors that of the Pacific-North American(PNA)pattern.In SH,both EP and CP El Nio induce a negative phase Southern Annular Mode(SAM).However,the former has a greater amplitude,which is consistent with the stronger sea surface temperature(SST)warmth.The difference in the two types of El Nio events in NH may originate from the dependence of heating-induced extratropical response on the location of initial heating,which may be associated with activity of the stationary wave.In SH,the lack of sensitivity to the location of heating can be associated with weaker activity of the stationary wave therein.     

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ATMOSPHERIC AND OCEANIC CONDITIONS BEFORE THE OCCURRENCE OF TWO TYPES OF EL NIO EVENTS

The atmospheric and oceanic conditions before the onset of EP El Ni?o and CP El Ni?o in nearly 30 years are compared and analyzed by using 850 hPa wind, 20℃ isotherm depth, sea surface temperature and the Wheeler and Hendon index. The results are as follows: In the western equatorial Pacific, the occurrence of the anomalously strong westerly winds of the EP El Ni?o is earlier than that of the CP El Ni?o. Its intensity is far stronger than that of the CP El Ni?o. Two months before the El Ni?o, the anomaly westerly winds of the EP El Ni?o have extended to the eastern Pacific region, while the westerly wind anomaly of the CP El Ni?o can only extend to the west of the dateline three months before the El Ni?o and later stay there. Unlike the EP El Ni?o, the CP El Ni?o is always associated with easterly wind anomaly in the eastern equatorial Pacific before its onset. The thermocline depth anomaly of the EP El Ni?o can significantly move eastward and deepen. In addition, we also find that the evolution of thermocline is ahead of the development of the sea surface temperature for the EP El Ni?o. The strong MJO activity of the EP El Ni?o in the western and central Pacific is earlier than that of the CP El Ni?o. Measured by the standard deviation of the zonal wind square, the intensity of MJO activity of the EP El Ni?o is significantly greater than that of the CP El Ni?o before the onset of El Ni?o.     

ENSO Frequency Asymmetry and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation in Observations and 19 CMIP5 Models

Using observational data and the pre-industrial simulations of 19 models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5(CMIP5), the El Ni o(EN) and La Ni a(LN) events in positive and negative Pacific Decadal Oscillation(PDO) phases are examined. In the observational data, with EN(LN) events the positive(negative) SST anomaly in the equatorial eastern Pacific is much stronger in positive(negative) PDO phases than in negative(positive) phases. Meanwhile,the models cannot reasonably reproduce this difference. Besides, the modulation of ENSO frequency asymmetry by the PDO is explored. Results show that, in the observational data, EN is 300% more(58% less) frequent than LN in positive(negative)PDO phases, which is significant at the 99% confidence level using the Monte Carlo test. Most of the CMIP5 models exhibit results that are consistent with the observational data.     

Parallel Comparison of the 1982/83,1997/98 and 2015/16 Super El Nios and Their Effects on the Extratropical Stratosphere

This study uses multiple sea surface temperature(SST) datasets to perform a parallel comparison of three super El Ni os and their effects on the stratosphere. The results show that, different from ordinary El Ni os, warm SST anomalies appear earliest in the western tropical Pacific and precede the super El Ni o peak by more than 18 months. In the previous winter,relative to the mature phase of El Ni o, as a precursor, North Pacific Oscillation-like circulation anomalies are observed. A Pacific–North America(PNA) teleconnection appears in the extratropical troposphere during the mature phase, in spite of the subtle differences between the intensities, as well as the zonal position, of the PNA lobes. Related to the negative rainfall response over the tropical Indian Ocean, the PNA teleconnection in the winter of 1997/98 is the strongest among the three super El Ni os. The northern winter stratosphere shows large anomalies in the polar cap temperature and the circumpolar westerly, if the interferences from other factors are linearly filtered from the circulation data. Associated with the positive PNA response in a super El Ni o winter, positive polar cap temperature anomalies and circumpolar easterly anomalies,though different in timing, are also observed in the mature winters of the three super El Ni os. The stratospheric polar vortex in the next winter relative to the 1982/83 and 1997/98 events is also anomalously weaker and warmer, and the stratospheric circulation conditions remain to be seen in the coming winter following the mature phase of the 2015/16 event.     

Distinctive Precursory Air–Sea Signals between Regular and Super El Ni os

Statistically different precursory air–sea signals between a super and a regular El Ni no group are investigated, using observed SST and rainfall data, and oceanic and atmospheric reanalysis data. The El Ni no events during 1958–2008 are first separated into two groups: a super El Ni no group(S-group) and a regular El Ni no group(R-group). Composite analysis shows that a significantly larger SST anomaly(SSTA) tendency appears in S-group than in R-group during the onset phase[April–May(0)], when the positive SSTA is very small. A mixed-layer heat budget analysis indicates that the tendency difference arises primarily from the difference in zonal advective feedback and the associated zonal current anomaly(u).This is attributed to the difference in the thermocline depth anomaly(D) over the off-equatorial western Pacific prior to the onset phase, as revealed by three ocean assimilation products. Such a difference in D is caused by the difference in the wind stress curl anomaly in situ, which is mainly regulated by the anomalous SST and precipitation over the Maritime Continent and equatorial Pacific.     

Connections Between Different Types of El Nio and Southern/Northern Oscillation

It has long been acknowledged that there are two types of El Nio events, i.e., the eastern Pacific El Nio (EE) and the central Pacific El Nio (CE), according to the initial position of the anomalous warm water and its propagation direction. In this paper, the oceanic and atmospheric evolutions and the possible mechanisms of the two types of El Nio events were examined. It is found that all the El Nio events, CE or EE, could be attributed to the joint impacts of the eastward advection of warm water from the western Pacific warm pool (WPWP) and the local warming in the equatorial eastern Pacific. Before the occurrence of CE events, WPWP had long been in a state of being anomalous warm, so the strength of eastward advection of warm water was much stronger than that of EE, which played a major role in the formation of CE. While for the EE events, most contribution came from the local warming of the equatorial eastern Pacific. It is further identified that the immediate cause leading to the difference of the two types of El Nio events was the asynchronous variations of the Southern Oscillation (SO) and the Northern Oscillation (NO) as defined by Chen in 1984. When the transition from the positive phase of the NO (NO+) to NO- was prior to that from SO+ to SO-, there would be eastward propagation of westerly anomalies from the tropical western Pacific induced by NO and hence the growth of warm sea surface temperature anomalies in WPWP and its eastward propagation. This was followed by lagged SO-induced weakening of southeast trade winds and local warming in the equatorial eastern Pacific. These were conducive to the occurrence of the CE. On the contrary, the transition from SO+ to SO- leading the transition of NO would favor the occurrence of EE type events.     

A New Approach for Classifying Two Types of El Nio Events

正In recent decades, the typical El Nio events with the warmest SSTs in the tropical eastern Pacific have become less common, and a different of El Nio with the warmest SSTs in the central Pacific, which is flanked on the east and west by cooler SSTs, has become more fre-quent. The more recent type of El Nio was referred to as central Pacific El Nio, warm pool El Nio, or dateline El Nio, or the El Nio Modoki. Central Pacific El Nio links to a different tropical-to-extratropical teleconnection and exerts different impacts on climate, and several classification approaches have been proposed. In this study, a new classification approach is proposed, which is based on the linear combination (sum or difference) of the two leading Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) of tropical Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA), and the typical El Ni o index (TENI) and the central El Nio index (CENI) are able to be derived by projecting the observed SSTA onto these combinations. This classification not only reflects the characteristics of non-orthogonality between the two types of events but also yields one period peaking at approximate two to seven years. In particular, this classification can distin-guish the different impacts of the two types of events on rainfall in the following summer in East China. The typical El Nio events tend to induce intensified rainfall in the Yangtze River valley, whereas the central Pacific El Nio tends to induce intensified rainfall in the Huaihe River valley. Thus, the present approach may be appropriate for studying the impact of different types of El Nio on the East Asian climate.     

ECHAM5-Simulated Impacts of Two Types of El Nio on the Winter Precipitation Anomalies in South China

The authors used an atmospheric general circulation model(AGCM) of European Centre Hamburg Model(ECHAM5.4) and investigated the possible impacts of eastern Pacific(EP) and central Pacific(CP) El Nio on the winter precipitation anomalies in South China.A composite analysis suggested much more rainfall during the mature phase of EP El Nio than in the case of CP El Nio,and their corresponding observed wet centers to be located in the southeast coast and the region to the south of the Yangtze River,respectively.Results obtained on the basis of model-sensitive run imply that the modelsimulated rainfall anomalies agree well with the observation,and the magnitude of simulated rainfall anomalies were found to be reduced when the amplitude of sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA) forcing of EP and CP El Nio was cut down.These results imply that the rainfall anomaly in South China is very sensitive not only to the type of El Nio but also to its intensity.     

THE CONTRASTS BETWEEN STRONG AND WEAK MJO ACTIVITY OVER THE EQUATORIAL WESTERN PACIFIC IN WINTER

This paper investigates the contrasts between strong and weak Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) activity over the equatorial western Pacific during winter using the NCEP reanalysis data. It is shown that the MJO over the equatorial western Pacific in winter shows significant interannual and interdecadal variabilities. During the winters with strong MJO activity, an anomalous cyclonic circulation lies east of the Philippines, strong anomalous easterlies control the equatorial eastern Pacific, and anomalous westerlies extend from the Indian Ocean to the western Pacific in the lower troposphere, which strengthens the convergence and convection over the equatorial western Pacific. The moisture convergence in the lower troposphere is also enhanced over the western Pacific, which is favorable to the activity of MJO. Eastward propagation is a significant feature of the MJO, though there is some westward propagation. The space-time spectral power and center period of the MJO are higher during strong MJO activity winters. The anomalous activity of MJO is closely related to the sea surface temperature (SST) and East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM). During strong MJO activity winters, there are positive/negative anomalies at high/low latitudes in both sea level pressure and 500 hPa geopotential height, and the temperature is lower over the central part of the Chinese mainland, which indicates a strong EAWM. China experiences more rainfall between the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers, but less rainfall south of the Yangtze River. The SSTA is negative near the Taiwan Island due to the impact of strong EAWM and shows a La Ni?a pattern anomaly over the eastern Pacific. During the weak MJO activity winters, the situation is reversed.     

Impacts of two types of El Niño on atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere

Based on NCEP/NCAR （National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmo- spheric Research） reanalysis data from 1979 to 2010, the impacts of two types of E1 Nino on atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere （SH） are analyzed. It is shown thaL when a warming event occurs in the equatorial eastern Pacific （EP E1 Nino）, there is a negative sea level pressure （SLP） anomaly in the east- ern Pacific and a positive one in the western Pacific. Besides, there exists a negative anomaly between 40°S and 60°S and a positive anomaly to the south of 60°S. When a warming event in the central Pacific （CP E1 Nino） occurs, there appears a negative SLP anomaly in the central Pacific and a positive SLP anomaly in the eastern and western Pacific, but the SLP anomalies are not so evident in the SH extratropics. In particular, the Pacific-South America （PSA） pattern induced by the CP E1 Nino is located more northwestward, with a weaker anomaly compared with the EP E1 Nino. This difference is directly related with the different position of heating centers associated with the two types of E1 Nino events. Because the SST anomaly associated with CP E1 Nino is located more westward than that associated with EP El Nino, the related heating center tends to move westward and the response of SH atmospheric circulation to the tropical heating changes accordingly, thus exciting a different position of the PSA pattern. It is also noted that the local meridional cell plays a role in the SH high latitudes during EP E1 Nino. The anomalous ascending motion due to the enhancement of convection over the eastern Pacific leads to an enhancement of the local Hadley cell and the meridional cell in the middle and high latitudes, which in turn induces an anomalous descending motion and the related positive anomaly of geopotential height over the Amundsen-Bellingshausen Sea.     

A New Approach for Classifying Two Types of El Nino Events

In recent decades, the typical El Nio events with the warmest SSTs in the tropical eastern Pacific have become less common, and a different of El Nio with the warmest SSTs in the central Pacific, which is flanked on the east and west by cooler SSTs, has become more fre-quent. The more recent type of El Nio was referred to as central Pacific El Nio, warm pool El Nio, or dateline El Nio, or the El Nio Modoki. Central Pacific El Nio links to a different tropical-to-extratropical teleconnection and exerts different impacts on climate, and several classification approaches have been proposed. In this study, a new classification approach is proposed, which is based on the linear combination (sum or difference) of the two leading Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs) of tropical Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA), and the typical El Ni o index (TENI) and the central El Nio index (CENI) are able to be derived by projecting the observed SSTA onto these combinations. This classification not only reflects the characteristics of non-orthogonality between the two types of events but also yields one period peaking at approximate two to seven years. In particular, this classification can distin-guish the different impacts of the two types of events on rainfall in the following summer in East China. The typical El Nio events tend to induce intensified rainfall in the Yangtze River valley, whereas the central Pacific El Nio tends to induce intensified rainfall in the Huaihe River valley. Thus, the present approach may be appropriate for studying the impact of different types of El Nio on the East Asian climate.     

Distinctive MJO Activity during the Boreal Winter of the 2015/16 Super El Nino in Comparison with Other Super El Nino Events

Many previous studies have demonstrated that the boreal winters of super El Nino events are usually accompanied by severely suppressed Madden-Julian oscillation(MJO) activity over the western Pacific due to strong descending motion associated with a weakened Walker Circulation. However, the boreal winter of the 2015/16 super El Nino event is concurrent with enhanced MJO activity over the western Pacific despite its sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA)magnitude over the Nino 3.4 region being comparable to the SSTA magnitudes of the two former super El Nino events(i.e.,1982/83 and 1997/98). This study suggests that the MJO enhanced over western Pacific during the 2015/16 super El Nino event is mainly related to its distinctive SSTA structure and associated background thermodynamic conditions. In comparison with the previous super El Nino events, the warming SSTA center of the 2015/16 super El Nino is located further westward, and a strong cold SSTA is not detected in the western Pacific. Accordingly, the low-level moisture and air temperature(as well as the moist static energy, MSE) tend to increase in the central-western Pacific. In contrast, the low-level moisture and MSE show negative anomalies over the western Pacific during the previous super El Nino events.As the MJO-related horizontal wind anomalies contribute to the further westward warm SST-induced positive moisture and MSE anomalies over the western tropical Pacific in the boreal winter of 2015/16, stronger moisture convergence and MSE advection are generated over the western Pacific and lead to the enhancement of MJO convection.     

Distinguished Effects of Interannual Salinity Variability on the Development of the Central-Pacific El Ni o Events

El Nio events in the central equatorial Pacific (CP) are gaining increased attention,due to their increasing intensity within the global warming context.Various physical processes have been identified in the climate system that can be responsible for the modulation of El Nio,especially the effects of interannual salinity variability.In this work,a comprehensive data analysis is performed to illustrate the effects of interannual salinity variability using surface and subsurface salinity fields from the Met Office ENSEMBLES (EN3) quality controlled ocean dataset.It is demonstrated that during the developing phase of an El Nio event,a negative sea surface salinity (SSS) anomaly in the western-central basin acts to freshen the mixed layer (ML),decrease oceanic density in the upper ocean,and stabilize the upper layers.These related oceanic processes tend to reduce the vertical mixing and entrainment of subsurface water at the base of the ML,which further enhances the warm sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies associated with the El Nio event.However,the effects of interannually variable salinity are much more significant during the CP-El Nio than during the eastern Pacific (EP) El Nio,indicating that the salinity effect might be an important contributor to the development of CP-El Nio events.     

LINKAGE BETWEEN INDIAN OCEAN DIPOLE AND TWO TYPES OF El NI?O AND ITS POSSIBLE MECHANISMS

After compositing three representative ENSO indices,El Nio events have been divided into an eastern pattern(EP) and a central pattern(CP).By using EOF,correlation and composite analysis,the relationship and possible mechanisms between Indian Ocean Dipole(IOD) and two types of El Nio were investigated.IOD events,originating from Indo-Pacific scale air-sea interaction,are composed of two modes,which are associated with EP and CP El Ni o respectively.The IOD mode related to EP El Nio events(named as IOD1) is strongest at the depth of 50 to 150 m along the equatorial Indian Ocean.Besides,it shows a quasi-symmetric distribution,stronger in the south of the Equator.The IOD mode associated with CP El Nio(named as IOD2) has strongest signal in tropical southern Indian Ocean surface.In terms of mechanisms,before EP El Nio peaks,anomalous Walker circulation produces strong anomalous easterlies in equatorial Indian Ocean,resulting in upwelling in the east,decreasing sea temperature there;a couple of anomalous anticyclones(stronger in the south) form off the Equator where warm water accumulates,and thus the IOD1 occurs.When CP El Nio develops,anomalous Walker circulation is weaker and shifts its center to the west,therefore anomalous easterlies in equatorial Indian Ocean is less strong.Besides,the anticyclone south of Sumatra strengthens,and the southerlies east of it bring cold water from higher latitudes and northerlies west of it bring warm water from lower latitudes to the 15° to 25°S zone.Meanwhile,there exists strong divergence in the east and convergence in the west part of tropical southern Indian Ocean,making sea temperature fall and rise separately.Therefore,IOD2 lies farther south.     

THE INFLUENCE OF PERSISTENT ANOMALY OF MJO ON ENSO

In this study, two possible persistent anomalies of the Madden-Julian Oscillation mode (MJO) are found in the summer season (persistently Pacific active and Indian Ocean active), and an index is set to define the intensity of the two modes. They are proved to have high statistical correlations to the later ENSO events in the autumn and winter seasons: When persistent anomaly of MJO happens in the Pacific Ocean in summer, El Ni?o events are often induced during the autumn and winter seasons of that year. However, during the other MJO mode when the summer persistent anomaly of MJO occurs in the Indian Ocean, La Ni?a events often follow instead. The analysis of the atmospheric circulation field indicates that persistent anomaly of MJO can probably affect the entire Equatorial Pacific circulation, and results in wind stress anomalies. The wind stress anomalies could excite warm or cold water masses which propagate eastwards at the subsurface ocean. The accumulation of warm or cold subsurface water in the Equatorial Eastern Pacific Ocean may eventually lead to the formation of an ENSO.