Understanding the Enigma of El Niño El Niño is a fascinating climate phenomenon that impacts weather and ecosystems worldwide. It's characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.

A weak La Niña weather pattern has developed that's affecting Northern Virginia. Could it take the sting out of the rest of our winter?

With a weak La Niña returning in the equatorial Pacific, our weather across the Great Lakes could turn more active for the remainder of winter.

We’re almost to the weekend, and this weekend will be warm and dry. The formation of La Niña in the Pacific Ocean likely means dry weather may stay for a while.

Light precipitation will begin to move inland on Friday morning, mainly impacting the northern and central Sierra with rising snow levels initially around or above 5000–6000 ft. Steadier snowfall will develop late Friday into Saturday as a surge of Pacific moisture arrives.

A weak La Nina event has arrived in the Pacific, bringing colder waters and potentially cooler weather. Despite being delayed and relatively weak, La

La Niña has arrived and is likely to be impacting the winter season, including how much snow and rain New England might see before the start of spring.

La Niña is usually associated with drier conditions across the southern part of the U.S. and wetter conditions to the north. This reflects how La Niña is associated with a more poleward-shifted jet stream that deflects the storm tracks to the north (both Emily and Tom have written some nice explainers).

Spring warmth that is projected for March and April means we need to be ready for the possibility of an active start to the season in terms of severe weather.

We are halfway through winter and after an exceptionally warm start, North America’s winter is transitioning toward more predictable patterns with La Niña.

“If the strongest cold anomaly during La Niña is in the EP region, the North Atlantic and western European region tends to weaker storms or low-pressure systems and more blocking highs which often leads to drier and sometimes colder conditions,” he says.

In a La Niña pattern, the trade winds push warmer water toward Asia and bring cooler waters to the west coast of the U.S. This typically means dry weather, warmer conditions and drought for the southern U.S. and cooler temperatures for the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest.