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How El Niño and La Niña impact the weather

ENSO researchers say the El Niño–Southern Oscillation is a natural Pacific Ocean cycle with warm El Niño and cool La Niña phases that affect global weather patterns.
Hundreds of years ago fishermen off Peru and Ecuador noticed warm coastal waters near Christmas and named it El Niño, meaning 'The Child', later paired with La Niña as ENSO's opposite.
When El Niño develops, the Pacific jet stream shifts south and strengthens, steering storms into the southern United States and bringing milder winters with 60-degree days in the South.
La Niña conditions typically produce stronger Atlantic hurricane activity by reducing wind shear and drier, warmer weather in the Southwest and southern Plains, raising drought and wildfire risks.
Meteorologists around the world track sea surface temperatures in the Pacific to forecast ENSO-driven changes months ahead, and because ENSO lasts 9 to 18 months, communities can prepare for impacts on farming, fishing, and food markets.

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How Do El Niño and La Niña Impact Georgia?

Georgia’s weather swings from wet winters to dry ones, and from quiet hurricane seasons to active ones. Two weather patterns thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean control much of this change. What’s Happening: El Niño and La Niña are opposite weather patterns that happen when ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the […] The post How Do El Niño and La Niña Impact Georgia? appeared first on The Georgia Sun.

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