El Nino
El Nino – Typical surface ocean circulation
El nino conditions Normal El nino – strong counter-current
El nino conditions Normal El nino – strong countercurrent
Prentice Hall Textbook animation linkTextbook animation link El Nino: Normal Conditions
Prentice Hall Textbook animation linkTextbook animation link El Nino: El Nino Development
Prentice Hall Textbook animation linkTextbook animation link El Nino: La Nina
Winter NH El Nino La Nina
Summer NH El Nino La Nina
El nino - precipitation
Typical winter Effects El Nino La Nina
El Nino – weak Aleutian High
La Nina – strong Aleutian High
El Nino: US Winter Temperatures Higher in mid continent Lower in south
El Nino: US Winter Precipitation Higher in south and coastal regions
Flooding in San Francisco During the winter of , wind-driven waves and abnormally high sea levels significantly contributed to hundreds of millions of dollars in flood and storm damage in the San Francisco Bay region. Recent analyses by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists of nearly 100 years of sea-level records collected near the Golden Gate Bridge found that these abnormally high sea levels were the direct result of that year's El Niño atmospheric phenomenon.
Flooding in San Francisco Less land sea winds with El nino conditions result in higher sea level.
Hurricanes El Niño contributes to more eastern Pacific hurricanes and fewer Atlantic hurricanes. –Average US damage = $5.9 billion La Niña contributes to fewer eastern Pacific hurricanes and more Atlantic hurricanes. –Average US damage = $2.0 billion US hurricane damage
US Tornados Tornado activity Depends on the location of the polar jet stream (and thus the location an movement of mid-latitude cyclones) El Nino: More to the south La Nina: more to the north
AK precip (in) El Nino: Nov- Dec
AK Temperature El Nino: Feb - Apr
Prediction of El Nino Satellites – provide data on tropical rainfall, wind, and ocean temperature patterns, as well as changes in conditions for hurricane formation. Ocean buoys –help to monitor sea-surface and upper ocean temperatures. Radiosondes –balloon-borne instrument platforms with radio transmitting capabilities, help to monitor global weather and climate patterns Super computers –gather all of the weather data around the world and put it into useful formats used by scientists. –Run models for future change