Monthly Highlights on the Climate System

'Monthly Highlights on the Climate System' has been issued in PDF format since March 2007 as a monthly bulletin focusing on the monthly highlights of the monitoring results.

The issues for April 2011 and before were based on the old normal, and those for May 2011 and after are based on the new normal (i.e., the 1981 - 2010 average).

Explanatory Notes

Highlights in April 2012

- Monthly mean temperatures were below normal in northern Japan and above normal in western Japan and Okinawa/Amami.
- Monthly mean temperatures were extremely high around Central Asia.
- Wave trains were pronounced in the Northern Hemisphere.
- Convective activity was enhanced around northern South America, and suppressed over the equatorial Indian Ocean.
- In the equatorial Pacific, positive SST anomalies were seen west of 145ºE and east of 115ºW, and negative SST anomalies were observed from 145ºE to 115ºW.

Full version (PDF)

Monthly Highlights on the Climate System (April 2012)
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