The 2023–2024 El Niño was a rare double-peaked event with asynchronous warming
In short: While most El Niño events follow a standard pattern, the 2023–2024 phenomenon defied expectations. It featured two distinct spatial peaks of sea surface temperature anomalies in the Pacific that matured at different times, challenging previous scientific models and setting new records for global heat in the process.
The 2023–2024 El Niño was a double-peaked event, characterized by two separate centers of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in the equatorial Pacific. Unlike typical El Niño events that might show simultaneous growth, this event exhibited an asynchronous evolution. The eastern Pacific peak reached its maximum intensity early, between August and October 2023, while the central Pacific peak matured later, during the winter months of November and December.
This spatial separation is a known but complex phenomenon. In the eastern Pacific, the warming is primarily driven by thermocline feedback, where the deepening of the thermocline layer influences surface temperatures. Conversely, the central Pacific peak is often linked to zonal advective feedback, influenced by the westward extension of the cold tongue. While some earlier research suggested that double-peaked events were absent in observations and only present in model simulations, recent studies have identified at least three other such events since 2000, including those in 2002–2003, 2006–2009, and 2018–2019.
The 2023–2024 event stood out for its significantly higher amplitude compared to these previous double-peaked occurrences. Its development followed a rare triple-dip La Niña, and by the time it reached its mature phase, it had generated profound global climatic impacts. The event was among the strongest on record, contributing to a period of unprecedented global temperatures. By May 2024, the phenomenon was attenuating, marking the end of a cycle that had reshaped regional weather patterns and pushed global average temperatures to new, record-breaking levels.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: On the spatial double peak of the 2023–2024 El Niño event - Communications Earth & Environment
- Also: 2023–2024 El Niño event
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