Comparison of GISS LOTAs During 5 El Nino – La Nina Cycles

In this post I compare GISS LOTAs during 5 El Nino – La Nina cycles (2010, 1998, 19883, 1973 and 1970).

El Nino – La Nina Cycles

In a previous post I showed the Nino 34 SSTA cycles for 2010, 1998, 1983, 1973 and 1970 here. In this post, I want to see how GISS Land Ocean Temperature Anomalies (LOTA) vary over El Nino – La Nina cycles.  Here is my RClimate chart showing GISS anomalies for 6 months prior to cycle year,the cycle year and the 12 months after cycle year (30 month period).

Click chart to enlarge

While the 2010 cycle is only partially complete, there are a number of interesting aspects in this chart. The average temperatures during the cycles have clearly risen with the latest cycle showing the highest maximum anomaly. All 5 cycles all have similar patterns, with a buildup in 6 months prior to cycle year. The maximum – minimum range for the 5 cycles are comparable, ranging from 0.45 (2010) to 0.60 (1998).

Here is a data summary of the 5 cycles.