La Niña Has Arrived! (Credit: U.S. National Weather Service)

DISCUSSION: The NOAA Climate Prediction Center has officially announced that La Niña is here and is expected to stick around for the upcoming winter. This year’s La Niña follows a very strong El Niño; however, this La Niña is forecast to be relatively weak.  La Niña conditions are only expected to last a few months.  La Niña occurs when there are cooler than average surface waters in the Equatorial Pacific Ocean, which can impact where the Pacific jet stream is located. This in turn, influences the weather and climate patterns across the Globe.
 
For the United States, La Niña is likely to contribute to the continued dry and warm weather conditions and could have a negative impact on the drought conditions across the southern United States. Across the Pacific Northwest and the northern parts of the United States, conditions are forecasted to be wet and temperatures are expected to be cooler than average.  For other interesting global climate content from around the world, be sure to click here!


©2017 Meteorologist Shannon Scully