Understanding El Niño
ABCIt was Peruvian fishermen, hundreds of years ago, who first noticed the unusually warm ocean currents that would appear in some years near South America, disrupting their fisheries and triggering heavy rainfall across the lands. In a normal year, trade winds blow relentlessly from east to west, pushing warm seawater and moisture-rich winds toward the west side of the Pacific, and cooling the eastern Pacific. Ironically, the weaker trade winds prevent warm water near South America from spreading westward, and the warm water near South America keeps the trade winds weaker, setting up a self-re-enforcing pattern that lasts up to a year. Moisture-laden clouds, fuelled by the rising air over warm waters in the eastern Pacific, become a source of rainfall for weather system over parts of South America.
History of this topic
A La Niña Watch has been declared — here's what that could mean for Australia's weather in 2024
ABC
El Niño is on the way out after a record-breaking year of heat
NPRModelling indicates wet La Niña could be back in Australia for the fourth time in five years
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ABCEl Niño usually brings dry weather, so why have we just had weeks of heavy rain?
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ABC
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ABCEl Niño in 2023 becoming more likely, which would result in dry, warm weather across eastern Australia
ABCAn 'El Niño Watch' has been declared — here's what that could mean for Australia's weather in 2023
ABCAustralia can expect an El Niño weather pattern bringing extreme dry hot weather now La Niña is over
ABC
With water running out, California faces grim summer of dangerous heat, extreme drought
LA Times
California drought, Australia floods: Two sides of La Niña amplified by climate change
LA TimesWhat is the La Niña and what does it mean for Australian weather?
ABCDiscover Related
