1. Chapter 14: Section 3
1). You will be able to define what an el niño and la niña Event is.
2). You should be able to explain what causes el niño and la niña Events.
3). You should be able to explain some of their global effects.

2. El Niño Huge warm water mass forming in the pacific
No-one knows why…
Full of energy
Abnormal Warming of Surface Ocean Temperatures
Warm water builds up off of the coast of South America

3. El Niño
Changes Rainfall
Effects
An area of thunderstorms and intense rainfall accompanies the warm water pool
Causes changes in rainfall amounts along the South American coast.
Flooding:
West South America where it is usually dry
Excessively dry
western Pacific where precipitation normally falls. 

4. Effects of El Niño
Map of Global Effects
All of these changes in the Pacific Ocean change the global wind circulation
Affects the weather and climate patterns all over the globe.
A shift in the atmospheric patterns at one location leads to shifts in the flow of air and weather elsewhere
Impact Jet Streams

5. What Does El Niño Do to U.S. Weather?
Effects in the U.S.
Last El Niño = 2008
Warmer Dryer Winters
Very Warm Wet Summers
Less Hurricanes

6. La Niña
Unusually cold ocean temperatures in off the coast of south America
Reverse of El Niño
What does this mean for the U.S?
La Niña tends to bring nearly opposite effects of El Niño to the United States —
wetter than normal conditions across the Pacific Northwest and dryer and warmer than normal conditions across much of the southern tier.
most clearly seen in wintertime.
In the continental U.S., during El Niño years, temperatures in the winter are warmer than normal in the North Central States, and cooler than normal in the Southeast and the Southwest.
During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are warmer than normal in the Southeast and cooler than normal in the Northwest.