edu.ucar.opensky::articles:22556 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-25T15:34:04.627849 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7xk8jnj ENSO bimodality and extremes 2019-05-16T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7xk8jnj https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082270 Rodrigues, R. R. author Subramanian, A. author Zanna, L. author Berner, Judith author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher Tropical sea surface temperature (SST) and winds vary on a wide range of timescales and have a substantial impact on weather and climate across the globe. Here we study the variability of SST and zonal wind during El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) between 1982 and 2014. We focus on changes in extreme statistics using higher-order moments of SST and zonal winds. We find that ENSO characteristics exhibit bimodal distributions and fat tails with extreme warm and cold temperatures in 1982-1999, but not during 2000-2014. The changes in the distributions coincide with changes in the intensity of ENSO events and the phase of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation. We also find that the strongest Easterly Wind Bursts occur during extreme El Ninos and not during La Ninas. Maps of SST kurtosis can serve as a diagnostic for the thermocline feedback mechanism responsible for the differences in ENSO diversity between the two periods. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright 2019 American Geophysical Union. None eng geoscientificInformation