This map displays the change in sea surface temperature anomaly from the previous month divided by the standard deviation of the month-to-month change for the given month over the 1950-present base period centered on the tropical Pacific Ocean.
The climatological base period used to calculate the sea surface temperature anomalies is 1991-2020, and the base period used for the standardization is 1950 to present. Red shading on the map indicates where the standardized change is large and positive; blue shading indicates where the standardized change is large and negative. Shading and contours start at +/- 1.0 s.d., and the shading and contour interval is 0.5 s.d. The time label on the plot identifies the later of the two months in the difference calculation; the difference is calculated as the anomaly of the later month minus the anomaly of the earlier month.
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