At times ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific are colder
than normal. These cold episodes, sometimes referred to as La Niña
episodes, are characterized by lower than normal pressure over Indonesia
and northern Australia and higher than normal pressure over the eastern
tropical Pacific. This pressure pattern is associated with enhanced near-surface
equatorial easterly winds over the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.
Climate Prediction Center - Cold Episodes - 0 views
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bnormally cold waters in the equatorial central give rise to suppressed cloudiness and rainfall in that region, especially during the Northern Hemispherel winter and spring seasons. At the same time, rainfall is enhanced over Indonesia, Malaysia and northern Australia. Thus, the normal Walker Circulation during winter and spring, which features rising air, cloudiness and rainfall over the region of Indonesia and the western Pacific, and sinking air over the equatorial eastern Pacific, becomes stronger than normal.
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Significant departures from normal are shown in the accompanying figures for the Northern Hemisphere winter and summer seasons.
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El Nino and extreme weather will be a theme of 2016 - 0 views
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In fact, it’s probably the strongest that’s ever been measured. I
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In fact, due to an atmospheric lag, extreme weather will likely keep getting worse for several more months. Though El Niño is typically the most powerful player among the world’s constantly feuding meteorological morphologies, it takes months for its burst of heat to filter around the globe from the tropical Pacific. Ocean temperatures in the El Niño regions of the Pacific usually peak in November or December, but globally-averaged temperatures don’t typically peak until between February and July of the following year.
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Though El Niño is the proximate cause of many of this year’s weather records, its effects are an upward wiggle on top of the slow-rolling steamroller of climate change.
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