SST Anomalies -- 10 Jan 98 El Nino 1997/98 warm pattern continues its grip on the tropical SE Pacific. Two interesting anomalous warm "scars" can be seen off Mexico/Central America to the north of the tropics. These features indicating the lack typical offshore winds at these locations due to typical wintertime high pressure features in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. These, often intense, surface winds drive offshore currents along these eastern Pacific coastal sites inducing upwelling in the Gulf of Tehuantepec and west of Nicaraguan lakes. [The new satellite-only climatology used in forming these SST Anomaly charts has sufficient resolution to resolve this year's absence of these pronounced features!] Considerable cooling from above, to now below, normal SSTs has taken place over large areas of the Northeastern Pacific since October. Also, during the past six months, the South Atlantic has reversed the sign of what had been a large negative anomaly to positive over, tropical to mid-latitudes. In the Indian Ocean, a significant patch of anomalously warm waters has been developing during the past few months. This patch extends from just south of the Seychelles, where some coral bleaching potential exists, to the SWern coast of Australia. AES