3.1             The weak La Niña conditions continued to persist in the tropical equatorial Pacific Ocean. Most of the atmospheric and oceanic indicators of El Niño/La Niña including the equatorial Pacific Ocean temperatures (Fig. 9), trade winds, the Southern Oscillation Index and cloudiness over the Pacific continue to be at levels above La Niña thresholds.

3.2       Most of the climate models from major centres indicate that the current La Niña conditions are likely to gradually weaken and last till the first half of 2012 (Fig. 10).

Fig 9. Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies in Tropical Pacific (Source: US NOAA)

Fig 10. Forecast of the SST Anomalies (Source:US NOAA)

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