On the heels of El Niño its opposite, the cooling weather pattern in the east-central equatorial Pacific known as La Niña’s expected to arrive soon, according to government forecasters. La Niña conditions in the Pacific typically mean a greater than normal number of Atlantic hurricanes.
In a weekly update, scientists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center said that as the 2006-2007 El Niño as faded, surface and subsurface ocean temperatures have rapidly decreased.
Recently, cooler than normal water temperatures have developed at the surface in the east-central equatorial Pacific, indicating a possible transition to La Niña conditions. These changes affect tropical rainfall patterns and atmospheric winds over the Pacific Ocean, which influence the patterns of rainfall and temperatures in many areas worldwide.