Some overlooked features of tropical atlantic climate leading to a new Nino-like phenomenon

An analysis of high-resolution climatological data shows that these dynamical changes induce a noticeable SST cooling in the central equatorial Atlantic. The shoaling thermocline and increased upwelling enhance the SST sensitivity to surface wind changes, reinvigorating equatorial ocean-atmosphere interaction. The resultant ocean-atmospheric anomalies are organized into patterns that give rise to positive mutual feedback as Bjerknes envisioned for the Pacific ENSO.

This ND zonal mode significantly affects interannual rainfall variability in coastal Congo-Angola during its early rainy season. It tends to further evolve into a meridional mode in the following March-April, affecting precipitation in northeast Brazil. Thus it offers potential predictability for climate over the Atlantic sector in early boreal winter, a season for which local ocean-atmosphere variability was otherwise poorly understood.