>NINO3.4 SST anomalies, Figure 1, and Global SST anomalies, Figure 2, have both increased over the past few weeks. For the week centered on December 16th, NINO3.4 SST anomalies were 1.85 deg C.
http://i45.tinypic.com/ofbmhg.png
Figure 1 – NINO3.4 SST Anomalies
http://i45.tinypic.com/246ltua.png
Figure 2 – Global SST Anomalies
And for those interested in the global SST anomaly map for that week:
http://i48.tinypic.com/23hm5w3.png
Figure 3 – Global SST Anomaly Map
SOURCE
OI.v2 SST anomaly data is available through the NOAA NOMADS webpage:
http://nomad3.ncep.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/pdisp_sst.sh?lite=
Bob Tisdale - Climate Observations 
>Hi Bob,What do you make of the warm patch east of NZ? Is that not over the warmest patch of seafloor we have?Peter Ravenscroft.
>Peter: The hot spot in the high latitudes of the South Pacific is an area that typically warms during El Nino events. Refer to the correlation map from Trenberth et al (2002) that follows:http://i47.tinypic.com/261e1lf.pngRegards
>How is now the El Niño Modoki index?That patch of cool waters in front of Peru intrigues me.This indicates that we have a Modoki, or simply that this Niño is still developing(so that warm waters have no yet reached the Peruvian Coast)?
>Anonymous 11:49AM: You asked, "How is now the El Niño Modoki index?"Still looking like an El Nino Modoki event!http://i50.tinypic.com/2i6nwpj.pngRegards
>hi, what is the area under the el nino region called, is it particuarly significant in global temperatures and /or follow the el nino la nina graph, in this case it seems to be an area even bigger than the el nino region but without the same reasons for it forming , not off the coast of anywhere but simply in the middle of the ocean, also it forms close to the southern ocean which has been colder than normal recently.
>Anonymous 9:46AM: You asked, "hi, what is the area under the el nino region called, is it particuarly significant in global temperatures and /or follow the el nino la nina graph, in this case it seems to be an area even bigger than the el nino region but without the same reasons for it forming , not off the coast of anywhere but simply in the middle of the ocean, also it forms close to the southern ocean which has been colder than normal recently."I assume when you say "under" you're refering to the warm area in the central mid-to-high latitudes of the South Pacific. First, you have to consider the projection of that map. The area of that hotspot is distorted, amplified, by the map. Second, thinking that someone would ask the question you've asked, I answered it in my Dec 28 post:http://bobtisdale.blogspot.com/2009/12/nino34-sst-anomalies-are-approaching-2.html########And for those wondering about the hotspot in the mid-to-high latitudes of central South Pacific, it is an area that is correlated with NINO3.4 SST anomalies. Refer to the following maps of time sequence of temperature anomaly correlations from Trenberth et al (2002) "Evolution of El Nino–Southern Oscillation and global atmospheric surface temperatures":http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cas/papers/2000JD000298.pdfhttp://i47.tinypic.com/261e1lf.pngTrenberth et al (2002) Figure 8######Regards