"La Niña, the seasonal climate pattern that emerged last fall, will likely fade out soon. There is a 60% chance that the current La Niña conditions, which bring a cascade of global weather impacts, will end between February and April, the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center reported on Thursday. This waning La Niña may not have major impacts on California's weather during the rest of the winter."
"La Niña is the cool phase of a pattern that brews across the tropical Pacific Ocean, called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. During La Niña events, strong trade winds result in below-average surface temperatures in those waters, while the other phase - El Niño - brings weaker winds that lead to warmer ocean conditions. The pattern alternates irregularly every two to seven years."
La Niña emerged last fall and currently shows about a 60% chance of ending between February and April. The event is weak, so other atmospheric factors could overwhelm La Niña's influence on California weather this winter. La Niña represents the cool phase of ENSO, producing stronger trade winds and below-average tropical Pacific surface temperatures, while El Niño produces weaker winds and warmer ocean conditions. La Niña typically yields drier winters in Southern California and variable outcomes for Northern California including the Bay Area. Early heavy rainfall occurred, but ENSO effects are strongest in January–March and February–April, and forecasts show much of California trending drier and warmer through April.
Read at SFGATE
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