Tropic Birds & the Southern Oscillation Index

Noon Position: 20 11.1 S 090 21.5 W As we get further out into the open reaches of the vast Pacific we have left our little storm petrels behind and are now being accompanied by some tropic birds, white tailed variety I think, chattering noisily as they wheel overhead, using Sylph for the odd bit of target practice. A couple of people have pointed out that I am heading across the Pacific a
little early so I had a friend (also ex-navy colleague and fellow cruiser) who
is currently in New Zealand check some weather information for me which he got
back to me with yesterday. Thanks Chris. It turns out this is in fact a good
year for crossing the Pacific early as the Southern Oscillation Index is at a
record high and it is a La Nina year. Bottom line is that this means that while
in the western Pacific there will be more cyclones then average, in the east
there will be less and they are very unlikely to get as far as French Polynesia
as the water is too cool this far east. Still the weather is all about
probabilities and not certainties so will of course be keeping a close eye on
the weather maps regardless. Starting to pick up weather faxes from
Honolulu. All is well. |