A meteorologist friend of mine confirms this. But don't believe him (and
certainly don't believe Tim), check out the sources direct:
El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Advisory, 97/4, issued June
10, 1997:
http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/enso_advisory/index.html
States that observed temperature patterns this year are consistent with the
El Nino effect.
El Nino theme page:
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/toga-tao/el-nino-story.html
Chok-a-block with color graphs and animations, and links to buoy data.
Describes what is considered to be an El Nino.
Enjoy.
- Jim