NOAA has declared that a La Niña is underway. This cool weather event is likely to be shorter and weaker than usual, but will still affect global weather and climate.

A long-awaited La Nina has finally appeared, but the periodic cooling of Pacific Ocean waters is weak and unlikely to cause as many weather problems as usual, meteorologists said Thursday. La Nina, the flip side of the better-known El Nino,

La Niña is finally here. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that conditions have officially formed to declare the weather event. The post NOAA: La Niña Conditions Have Officially Emerged first appeared on The Inertia.

Weather patterns across the U.S. and the world from October through December resembled patterns from previous La Niña events. La Niña is considered to be the cool phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is characterized by lower-than-average sea-surface temperatures,

A La Niña advisory is in effect. La Niña occurs when the ocean's surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific reach a specific cooler-than-average level, as circled below. In addition, the response of atmospheric circulations globally are also considered.

The Pacific Northwest, Midwest and Northeast are expected to face above-average precipitation, according to NOAA. States with a higher chance of increased precipitation between November and January include Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

It's not great news for the Gulf Coast and other storm-prone regions: La Niña is associated with more tropical activity in the Atlantic Ocean. But this event might not make it to hurricane season.

NOAA: La Niña has officially arrived, though late, and is expected to remain weak, with a 59% chance of persisting through February-April

The latest El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) update by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Jan. 9 announced La Nina's arrival.

A long-awaited La Niña has finally appeared, but meteorologists say the periodic cooling of Pacific Ocean waters is weak and unlikely to cause as many weather problems as usual.

head of NOAA's El Nino team. “It’s totally not clear why this La Nina is so late to form, and I have no doubt it’s going to be a topic of a lot of research,” L'Heureux said. In the United ...

NOAA Says La Nina Ocean Cooling Has Finally Arrived, but It's Weak and May Cause Fewer Problems A long-awaited La Nina has finally appeared, but the periodic cooling of Pacific Ocean waters is ...