El Niño & La Niña (El Niño-Southern Oscillation)
ENSO-neutral conditions have returned and are favored to continue through at least the Northern Hemisphere spring 2017.
More ENSO status information
Latest official ENSO update
Latest ENSO blog update
ENSO Monitoring at the Climate Prediction Center
El Niño and La Niña are the warm and cool phases of a recurring climate pattern across the tropical Pacific—the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or “ENSO” for short.
The pattern can shift back and forth irregularly every two to seven years, and each phase triggers predictable disruptions of temperature, precipitation, and winds.
These changes disrupt the large-scale air movements in the tropics, triggering a cascade of global side effects.
More about El Niño
What is El Niño in a nutshell?
Understanding El Niño (video)
FAQs
ENSO alert system criteria
ENSO essentials
Educational Resources on ENSO
By modifying the Pacific jet streams, El Niño and La Niña can affect temperature and precipitation across the United States. The influence on the U.S. is strongest during the Northern Hemisphere winter. This map shows typical impacts of La Niña on U.S. winter weather. These impacts have been associated with La Niña events in the past, but “associated with” doesn’t mean that all of these impacts happen during every La Niña episode.
Current outlooks
February–April 2017 U.S. outlook
Typical U.S La Niña impacts
Drought in the U.S. Southeast
Winter temperature and precipitation
El Niño and La Niña have their strongest impact on global climate during the Northern Hemisphere winter & early spring. The map at left shows typical global rainfall and temperature patterns during La Niña. However, it's important to remember that we may not see all impacts during every event. NOAA Climate.gov map.
More information
ENSO's cascade of global impacts
The Walker Circulation
Maps of global impacts of La Niña and El Niño
February 2017 ENSO update: bye-bye, La Niña!
January 12, 2017
This La Niña wasn’t exactly one for the record books. The Climate Prediction Center’s Emily Becker talks about what's in store for ENSO in 2017.
Featured Resources & Articles
News
Leftover warm water in Pacific Ocean fueled massive El Niño
El Niño prolongs longest global coral bleaching event
NOAA launches unprecedented effort to discover how El Niño affects weather
Images & Maps
Climate.gov’s most popular El Niño and La Niña images
El Niño 2015/16: a historical perspective (NCEI)
U.S. risk of seasonal extremes during ENSO (ESRL)
ENSO across NOAA
El Niño/Southern Oscillation (NCEI)
ENSO research and monitoring (ESRL)
Societal & ecosystem impacts
Coastal Flooding in California (NOS)
Oncoming El Niño Likely to Continue Species Shakeup in Pacific
Possibility of high sea lion strandings along U.S. West Coast this winter and spring
Regional & Local Impacts
Global Resources
ENSO @ the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
ENSO @ the World Meteorological Organization
ENSO @ the International Research Institute for Climate & Society
ENSO @ Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE) (Spanish)
ENSO @ the Centro Internacional para la Investigación del Fenómeno de El Niño (CIIFEN) (Spanish)
Events & Announcements
NOAA National Weather Service Daily Briefing
Daily
Briefing page with forecasts, discussions, maps, assessments, and severe weather outlooks for today’s developing weather patterns across the United States.
El Nino: What's Next?
February 18, 11 am CT
Hosted by SCIPP
NOAA Monthly Climate Briefing for Media
Thursday, February 18, at 11 am EST
Teleconference for public media on past month’s weather & climate conditions for the U.S. & globe, an update on El Niño, and NOAA’s 3-month climate outlook.
Western Region
California Winter Status Update
January 26, 4 - 6 pm EST
Videos
