What is a climate event that occurs when surface waters in the eastern Pacific or colder than normal?

What is a climate event that occurs when surface waters in the eastern Pacific or colder than normal?

What is La Nina? A climate event that occurs when surface waters in the eastern Pacific are colder than normal.

What is an abnormal climate event that occurs every 2 to 7 years in the Pacific Ocean?

El Niño events occur roughly every two to seven years, as the warm cycle alternates irregularly with its sibling La Niña—a cooling pattern in the eastern Pacific—and with neutral conditions.

Which condition happens during El Niño phenomenon?

An El Niño condition occurs when surface water in the equatorial Pacific becomes warmer than average and east winds blow weaker than normal. The opposite condition is called La Niña. During this phase of ENSO, the water is cooler than normal and the east winds are stronger. El Niños typically occur every 3 to 5 years.

How El Niño affects climate?

El Niño can affect our weather significantly. El Niño causes the Pacific jet stream to move south and spread further east. During winter, this leads to wetter conditions than usual in the Southern U.S. and warmer and drier conditions in the North. El Niño also has a strong effect on marine life off the Pacific coast.

How often does an abnormal climate event occur?

an abnormal climate event that occurs every two to seven years in the Pacific Ocean, causing changes in winds, currents, and weather patterns for one to two years. La Nina.

Where does the El Nino climate pattern occur?

El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

What happens to the tropical Pacific during La Nina?

During La Niña, it’s the opposite. The surface winds across the entire tropical Pacific are stronger than usual, and most of the tropical Pacific Ocean is cooler than average. Rainfall increases over Indonesia (where waters remain warm) and decreases over the central tropical Pacific (which is cool).

What does Neutral Mean in the Pacific Ocean?

Neutral indicates that conditions are near their long-term average. Maps of sea surface temperature anomaly in the Pacific Ocean during a strong La Niña (top, December 1988) and El Niño (bottom, December 1997).