What defines El Niño?
El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. El Nino is the “warm phase” of a larger phenomenon called the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
What is El Niño weather?
El Niño is a weather pattern that occurs in the Pacific Ocean. During this time, unusual winds cause warm surface water from the equator to move east, toward Central and South America. El Niño can cause more rain than usual in South and Central America and in the United States.
What does El Nina mean for weather?
Meaning “little girl” in Spanish La Niña simply refers to “a cold event”. During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than average in the south and cooler than normal in the north.
What is the difference between El Niño and La Niña?
El Niño events are associated with a warming of the central and eastern tropical Pacific, while La Niña events are the reverse, with a sustained cooling of these same areas. These changes in the Pacific Ocean and its overlying atmosphere occur in a cycle known as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
Is El Niño wet or dry?
Weather typically differs markedly from north to south during an El Niño event (wet in south, dry in north) but also usually varies greatly within one region from event to event.
What is El Niño in geography class 9?
El Nino can be understood as a natural phenomenon wherein the ocean temperatures rise especially in parts of the Pacific ocean. It is the nomenclature which is referred to for a periodic development along the coast of Peru. This development is a temporary replacement of the cold current along the coast of Peru.
What is the difference between El Niño and ENSO?
Though ENSO is a single climate phenomenon, it has three states, or phases, it can be in. The two opposite phases, “El Niño” and “La Niña,” require certain changes in both the ocean and the atmosphere because ENSO is a coupled climate phenomenon. “Neutral” is in the middle of the continuum.
How El Niño affects summer rainfall?
Correlation with El Nino Southern Oscillation is statistically significant for all summer rainfall areas. El Nino triggers drought and low streamflows and La Nina lead to high rainfall and high streamflows for all summer rainfall areas. Streamflows volumes are 4 to 2 time higher during La Nina than during El Nino.
Where does El Niño cause droughts?
But, according to drought research, the strongest connections are between ENSO and intense drought in Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Brazil, parts of eastern and southern Africa, the western Pacific basin islands (including Hawaii), Central America, and various parts of the U.S.