This image shows the temperature anomaly for the top millimeter of the Pacific Ocean's surface—the skin temperature—on January 14, 2008, based on data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) flying on NASA's Aqua satellite. In this image, January 14, 2008, temperatures are compared to the long-term average measured by a series of sensors that flew on NOAA Pathfinder satellites from 1985 to 1997. A strong band of blue (cool) water appears along the Equator, fanning out near North and South America. Patches of orange to red (warm) conditions appear north and south of this strong blue band. As of January 2008, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted that La Niña conditions would continue until spring, with a possible weakening in February 2008.
