When water temperature anomalies in the eastern and central Pacific are near normal, between 0.5 °C and -0.5 °C, the status of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is considered to be neutral. How long the atmosphere exhibits neutral conditions varies. After the 2019 El Nino, the Pacific Ocean was stuck in neutral status for more than a year before a La Nina emerged in 2020.