El Niño, the natural climate pattern linked to warmer conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean, has ended, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on Thursday.
The counterpart pattern known as La Niña, defined by cooler equatorial sea surface temperatures, is expected to develop soon.
A strong El Niño has cycled through the atmosphere since last June, leading to a wetter than normal winter, especially in the Southeast and in California, where a mind-boggling 51 atmospheric rivers dumped rain and snow.
That’s because, while El Niño conditions can rip apart storms that develop in the Atlantic Basin, hurricanes and tropical cyclones are more likely to form under La Niña.
Calm conditions produced by La Niña combined with warm ocean temperatures will intensify the activity likely to occur during hurricane season.
Persons:
El Niño, La Niña
Organizations:
National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, La
Locations:
California, El