WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Weather and climate patterns around the globe is set to change as the 2015-16 strong El Niño is on the decline and predicted to end by early summer. On its heels, potentially, is La Niña, federal meteorologists say.
In its April update, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center forecasters issued a La Nina Watch, meaning that conditions were favorable for La Nina to develop within the next six months. While chances are greater that La Niña could develop by fall, not all El Ninos are followed by La Ninas, it noted.
Prediction center Deputy Director Mike Halpert said it often means dry weather for parts of California, which haven't quite recovered from a four-year drought.
El Nino is the natural warming of parts of the Pacific that alters weather worldwide. La Nina, the opposite of El Niño, is a natural ocean-atmospheric phenomenon marked by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean near the equator.
During the winter, typical La Nina effects include drier and warmer-than-average temperatures over the southern United States, and cooler-than-average temperatures in the southern tier of Alaska, Pacific Northwest and across the Midwest.
Both El Nino and La Nina influence Atlantic hurricane formation. El Nino often leads to fewer hurricanes because of stronger wind shear which rips potential hurricanes apart. La Nina tends to reduce that wind shear - potentially meaning more hurricanes. NOAA will issue its 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook on May 27.
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