Atmosphere Journal Entry
La Niña Will Stay Through Spring (February 18, 2008)
La Niña is marked by cooler ocean water in the Pacific Ocean around the equator. Areas shown in dark blue are two degrees Celsius cooler than normal. NOAA.
La Niña isn't going to disappear anytime soon. The World Meteorological Organization says the pattern known as El Niño's "little sister" will likely continue into the spring months. It's been in place since mid-2007.
La Niña is marked by cooler than normal ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean along the equator. It's the opposite of El Niño, which brings warmer ocean temperatures to the equatorial Pacific.
Like it's more famous "brother," La Niña affects weather around the globe but in a milder way. Meteorologists link this winter's La Niña to record cold and snow in China and heavy rain and floods in Indonesia, Australia, and Bolivia.
Some of its weather effects are the opposite of those brought by El Niño. The Pacific Northwest usually gets more rain while parts of Canada get heavier snow. The southern United States is usually drier than normal in La Niña years.
La Niña changes the flow of the jet stream, the weather "superhighway" high in the atmosphere over North America. This tends to increase Atlantic hurricane activity by reducing wind shear that tears storms apart. In 2007, there were 15 named storms and six hurricanes, a bit more than usual.
