Condition opposite of an El Nino. In a La Nina, the tropical Pacific trade winds become very strong and an abnormal accumulation of cold water occurs in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.

La Niña, a phase of ENSO, is a periodic cooling of surface ocean waters in the eastern tropical Pacific along with a shift in convection in the western Pacific further west than the climatological average. These conditions affect weather patterns around the world. The preliminary CPC definition of La Niña is a phenomenon in the equatorial Pacific Ocean characterized by a negative sea surface temperature departure from normal.

The extensive cooling of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. In Australia (particularly eastern Australia), La Niña events are associated with warmer ocean temperatures and increased probability of wetter conditions. See El Niño.

a weather phenomenon that involves unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. La Niña events don't occur as often as El Niño events.

means "Infant Girl" in Spanish and is so named because in many ways it is the opposite of El Niño. La Niña is characterized by large scale cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean and often begins during the summer at irregular intervals of between about 2 and 7 years and lasting for 1 to 3 years. [ La Niña Theme Page

Unlike the El Niño phenomenon, La Niña (the "little girl" in Spanish) refers to the occurrence of unusually cold ocean water in the same geographical area, i.e. along the Pacifique coast of South America and in the equatorial Pacific zone. This phenomenon is due to strengthening of the trade winds that increase the flow of colder water along the coast.

A significant decrease in sea surface temperature in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific that occurs at irregular intervals, generally ranging between two and seven years. La Niña is the cool counterpart to the El Niño warm event, and its spatial and temporal evolution in the equatorial Pacific is, to a considerable extent, the mirror image of El Niño. Like El Niño, there are associated changes in atmospheric pressures and wind systems across the Pacific, and related changes can occur in temperature and rainfall in parts of Australia and New Zealand.

It is essentially the opposite of El Niño. The ocean becomes much cooler than normal. Although, La Niña is not as well understood as El Niño, it is thought to occur due to an increase in the strength of the trade winds. This increases the amount of cooler water that upwells toward the West Coast of South American and reduces water temperatures. ( Environnement Canada).

(pronounced el NEE-nya) a period of unusual cooling of the Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of Peru and Ecuador. It often follows an El Niño.

Refers to a sustained cooling of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across a broad region of the eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean. This tends to be associated with wetter winters in the Pacific Northwest and drier winters in the Southwest United States. La Niña events are also called cold events.

THE COLD PHASE OF ENSO.

La Niña is an extensive cooling of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean that occurs less frequently than El Niño and is its climatic opposite. It occurs when easterly trade winds in the tropics strengthen, intensifying the up-welling of cold waters off the coast of Peru and Ecuador. The effects of La Niña are strongest during the Northern Hemisphere winter, and include abundant snowfall from the interior of British Columbia to the Great Lakes region.

an oceanographic condition involving excessive pooling of cool waters in the equatorial Eastern Pacific Ocean (see also El Nino – Southern Oscillation episodes).

Condition where the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean waters turn cooler than normal. Opposite of El Nino

warming of the western equatorial Pacific warm pool, north of New Guinea, accompanied by cooling in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean. La Niña is often associated with above average rainfall in eastern Australia ( see El Niño)

a combined ocean and atmosphere pattern which leads to an increase in sea- surface temperatures in the western Pacific and around Australia, resulting in higher than average rainfall and a greater likelihood of cyclones in Australia

A cooling of the equatorial waters in the Pacific Ocean.

Spanish for "The Girl." The phase of ENSO which is associated with colder than normal SSTs in the eastern equatorial Pacific and warmer than normal SST's in the west. Convection over the western Pacific tends to be further west than the climatological average. It is opposite to El Nino.

A condition where the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean turns cooler than normal.

an unusually cold current of water that appears periodically in the Pacific Ocean, near the equator

The pattern of cool water in the eastern Pacific last seen from 1998 to 2000. It causes winds at various layers of the atmosphere to blow in harmony over the Atlantic, lessening the shear that would tear hurricanes apart.

The most common of several names given to a significant decrease in sea surface temperature ("cold events") in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. La Niña is the counterpart to the El Niño "warm event," and its spatial and temporal evolution in the equatorial Pacific is, to a considerable extent, the mirror image of El Niño, although La Niña events tend to be somewhat less regular in their behavior and duration. See also El Niño– Southern Oscillation. Philander, S. George, 1990: El Niño, La Niña, and the Southern Oscillation, Academic Press, International Geophysics Series, Vol. 46.