It is election season. But you didn’t need me to tell you that. It seems like there is a debate every week. It is also the season when many meteorologists and climatologists are watching one of the strongest El Niños on record gradually weaken and possibly transition to La Nina phase. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says,

A weakening El Niño continues. Tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures are still much warmer than average, but subsurface temperatures—El Niño’s “heat source”—have declined sharply………Transition to ENSO-neutral is likely by early summer 2016, with close to a 50% chance for La Niña to develop by fall.

La Niña (the “little girl” in Spanish) represents a decrease in sea surface temperatures in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific. It is the “cold event” counterpart to the El Niño warm event. Both are a part of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Like its warm sibling, La Niña is associated with teleconnections that affect seasonal weather patterns. Weather.com has an excellent discussion of typical effects of La Niña on U.S. temperatures, rainfall, and hurricane activity. Scientific analyses suggests that strong El Niños are often followed by La Niña. There is statistical evidence and physical underpinnings to support this observation though caution should be exercised before making this a “rule of thumb.”

from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/1MECCDF
via IFTTT