What are El Nino and La Nina?

El Nino - (El Nee-nyo) is the warming of water in the Pacific Ocean. La Nina - (Lah Nee-Nyah) is the cooling of water in the Pacific Ocean.

El Nino Weather	La Nina Weather
Rain and flooding along the Pacific coast Warm water disrupts food chain of fish, birds, and sea mammals Tornadoes and thunderstorms in southern US Fewer than normal hurricanes in the Atlantic	Snow and rain on the west coast Unusually cold weather in Alaska Unusually warm weather in the rest of the USA Drought in the southwest Higher than normal number of hurricanes in the Atlantic

Interesting Facts

• El Nino was first discovered hundreds of years ago by fishermen off the coast of Peru.
• El Nino means "Little Boy" and was named after the Christ child, because it usually starts around Christmas.
• El Nino is officially called ENSO - El Nino Southern Oscillation.
• La Nina means "Little Girl." It is also called El Viejo, which means "old man," or an ENSO cold event.
• La Nina occurs roughly half as often as El Nino
• El Nino and La Nina are the most powerful phenomenon on the earth and alter the climate across more than half the planet.
• El Nino may be caused by underwater volcanoes in the Pacific.