Impacts of different types of El Niño and La Niña on northern tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature

The present study investigates the dependence of the northern tropical Atlantic (NTA) sea surface temperature (SST) response to El Niño and La Niña events on the decay time and amplitude of tropical Pacific SST anomalies. It is found that the NTA SST response to La Niña events displays a notable difference between late and early decaying events, similar to that in response to El Niño events, but with a weaker signal. Latent heat flux is a dominant term in the NTA SST change in preceding winter-early spring in both El Niño and La Niña events and in the difference of the NTA SST anomaly between late and early decaying El Niño and La Niña events. The zonal and meridional advections have an opposite effect on the NTA SST warming in late decaying El Niño events. Although the warming in the NTA region is similar in late decaying moderate and strong El Niño events, the distribution of the SST anomalies in the mid-latitude North Atlantic Ocean shows a notable difference between the two types of late decaying El Niño events. The SST anomalies also display difference in the early decaying weak and moderate El Niño events. Surface heat flux differences are largely attributed to wind differences.