Understanding El Nino

Summary

El Niño is a significant climate pattern affecting seasonal forecasts, characterized by warmer ocean temperatures in the Pacific. This causes surface winds to weaken and rainfall to increase in the Central and Eastern Pacific while decreasing over Indonesia. El Niño shifts the jet stream eastward, influencing global weather patterns, particularly increasing wet conditions in the southern U.S. and drying the Pacific Northwest. The video highlights the impact of El Niño on long-term climate predictions, distinguishing weather as daily experiences and climate as patterns over time, based on data from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

Takeaways

• 🌊 El Niño is the warm water phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a major climate pattern influencing seasonal forecasting.
• 🔥 During El Niño, ocean temperatures in the Pacific start to warm up, causing significant climate effects.
• 💨 Surface winds weaken and rainfall increases in the Central and Eastern Pacific, while decreasing over Indonesia.
• 🌦 Warmer oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the Central and Eastern Pacific fuel the jet stream, shifting it eastward.
• 🌍 The global impact of El Niño, called a teleconnection, influences weather patterns across various regions.
• 🌧 During winter El Niño, the southern U.S. typically experiences wetter-than-average conditions, while the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies see drier conditions.
• ❄️ Southeastern U.S. tends to have below-average temperatures, while the northern part of the U.S. experiences warmer conditions.
• 📆 Weather refers to daily experiences, but El Niño climate predictions help forecast longer-term trends.
• 🌀 The jet stream's eastward shift during El Niño leads to low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska and high pressure over western Canada.
• 🌡 El Niño's effects result in significant weather pattern changes, including temperature and precipitation shifts across the globe.

Q & A

What is El Niño?

El Niño is the warm water phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which is one of the most influential climate patterns used in seasonal forecasting.

How does El Niño affect ocean temperatures in the Pacific?

During El Niño, ocean temperatures over the Central and Eastern Pacific begin to warm, while surface winds weaken.

What happens to rainfall patterns during El Niño?

Rainfall increases over the Central or Eastern Pacific, while it decreases over Indonesia.

How does El Niño impact the jet stream?

Warmer conditions in the Central and Eastern Pacific fuel the jet stream, causing it to shift eastward due to the warmer-than-normal Pacific waters.

What is a teleconnection in climate science?

Teleconnection refers to the influence of one region’s climate conditions on another region over large parts of the globe.

How does El Niño typically affect winter weather in the Southern U.S.?

El Niño is generally associated with wetter-than-average conditions across the Southern U.S. during winter.

What impact does El Niño have on the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies?

El Niño typically brings drier-than-average conditions to the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies.

What temperature patterns are observed during El Niño in the southeastern U.S.?

Below-average temperatures are often observed across the southeastern U.S. during El Niño.

How does El Niño affect temperatures in the northern U.S.?

During El Niño, the northern part of the U.S. tends to experience warmer-than-average conditions.

What is the difference between weather and climate in the context of El Niño?

Weather refers to daily atmospheric conditions, while climate refers to the average conditions over a long period of time, which El Niño can influence through its patterns.

Outlines

00:00

🌊 Understanding El Niño: Key Climate Phenomenon

This paragraph introduces El Niño, a warm water phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and explains its significance in seasonal climate forecasting. During an El Niño event, the ocean temperatures in the Pacific rise, surface winds weaken, and rainfall increases in the central and eastern Pacific, while it decreases in Indonesia. These changes have a profound impact on global weather patterns.

💨 El Niño's Impact on Global Weather Patterns

Here, the script delves into how warmer ocean and atmospheric conditions in the central and eastern Pacific influence the jet stream, causing it to shift eastward. This shift in the jet stream creates a chain reaction of low and high-pressure systems, with significant effects on weather across North America. For instance, low pressure develops in the Gulf of Alaska, high pressure builds over western Canada, and low pressure affects the southeastern United States.

🌍 Teleconnection: The Global Reach of El Niño

This paragraph introduces the concept of 'teleconnection,' which describes how El Niño's weather patterns in one part of the world influence weather across other regions. Specifically, it outlines that during winter, El Niño leads to wetter-than-average conditions in the southern U.S., while the Pacific Northwest and the northern Rockies experience drier conditions. Additionally, the southeastern U.S. faces below-average temperatures, while the northern U.S. becomes warmer than usual.

📊 El Niño and Climate Predictions

The script concludes by distinguishing between daily weather and long-term climate predictions. It emphasizes that while weather fluctuates daily, climate predictions based on El Niño provide insights into expected weather trends over extended periods. These predictions are sourced from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center, giving a comprehensive view of future weather conditions. The segment ends with a personal sign-off by Ned Gardner.

Keywords

💡El Niño

El Niño is the warm water phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, a climate pattern that significantly influences global weather patterns. In the video, El Niño is described as a period when ocean temperatures in the Pacific increase, leading to various atmospheric changes. It affects seasonal forecasts and plays a central role in global weather, particularly by altering rainfall and temperature distributions.

💡Southern Oscillation

The Southern Oscillation refers to the atmospheric component of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, involving changes in air pressure between the western and eastern Pacific. This oscillation, when combined with oceanic temperature shifts, creates significant impacts on global weather patterns, as described in the video.

💡Pacific Ocean temperatures

During El Niño, ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific begin to warm, which has a direct impact on weather patterns. The video explains that warmer waters fuel atmospheric changes, such as the weakening of surface winds and shifting of the jet stream. These temperature anomalies drive many of the weather effects associated with El Niño.

💡Surface winds

Surface winds are a critical factor in El Niño events. In the video, it is mentioned that during El Niño, surface winds weaken over the Pacific, which allows warmer water to pool in the central and eastern regions. These weakened winds are a key driver of the altered weather patterns during El Niño periods.

💡Rainfall patterns

Rainfall patterns shift significantly during El Niño events. The video highlights that rainfall increases over the central and eastern Pacific while decreasing over regions like Indonesia. These changes are a direct result of the warmer ocean temperatures and the weakened surface winds.

💡Jet stream

The jet stream is a fast-moving air current in the atmosphere that is influenced by El Niño. The video explains that during El Niño, the warming of the Pacific causes the jet stream to shift eastward. This shift affects pressure systems and weather conditions across large regions, particularly in North America.

💡Teleconnection

Teleconnection refers to the process by which climate events in one region, such as El Niño, influence weather patterns in distant parts of the globe. In the video, this concept is used to describe how changes in the Pacific can affect weather conditions as far away as North America and other continents.

💡Gulf of Alaska

The Gulf of Alaska experiences low pressure during El Niño events, as the jet stream shifts eastward. The video mentions this region to illustrate how El Niño alters pressure patterns, which subsequently affects the weather in both the Gulf and surrounding areas.

💡Wetter conditions in the southern U.S.

El Niño typically brings wetter-than-average conditions to the southern tier of the United States. The video explains that this happens due to the eastward shift of the jet stream, which channels more storm systems and precipitation toward the southern U.S. during El Niño winters.

💡Drier conditions in the Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest of the U.S. generally experiences drier-than-average conditions during an El Niño event. The video mentions this effect, emphasizing how El Niño disrupts typical weather patterns, bringing less rainfall to this region as the jet stream shifts and weather systems are directed elsewhere.

Highlights

El Niño is the warm water phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

It is one of the most influential climate patterns used in seasonal forecasting.

During El Niño, ocean temperatures over the Pacific begin to warm.

Surface winds weaken, and rainfall increases over the Central or Eastern Pacific.

Rainfall decreases over Indonesia during El Niño.

Warmer oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the Central and Eastern Pacific fuel the jet stream.

The jet stream shifts eastward during El Niño due to warmer than normal conditions in the Pacific.

This shift leads to low pressure in the Gulf of Alaska and high pressure over western Canada.

Lower pressure is observed over the southeastern United States during El Niño.

This global influence of El Niño is referred to as a 'teleconnection'.

El Niño is associated with wetter than average conditions across the southern U.S. during winter.

It also causes drier than average conditions in the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies.

Below average temperatures are typically observed in the southeastern U.S. during El Niño.

Warmer than average conditions are found in the northern parts of the country.

Climate predictions based on El Niño provide insights into long-term weather patterns.

Transcripts

[Music]

elino is the warm water phase of the

elino Southern oscillation the most

influential climate pattern used in

seasonal forecasting during El Nino

ocean temperatures over the Pacific

begin to warm

[Music]

up surface winds

weaken and rainfall increases over the

Central or Eastern Pacific while

decreasing over

Indonesia warmer Oceanic and Atmospheric

conditions in the Central and Eastern

Pacific fuel the jet

stream because the Central and Eastern

Pacific is warmer than normal during an

El Nino the jet shifts Eastward with

this energy

source a stronger Eastward shifted jet

stream favors low pressure in the Gulf

of Alaska higher pressure over western

Canada and lower pressure over the

southeastern United

States this type of influence from one

region to another over large parts of

the globe is referred to as a

[Music]

teleconnection during winter El Nino is

generally associated with wetter than

average conditions across the Southern

Tier and drier than average conditions

in the Pacific Northwest the northern

Rockies and the Ohio B valy we typically

observe below average temperatures

across the southeastern United States

and warmer than average conditions over

the northern part of the

country weather is what we experience

every day but remember climate

predictions based on El Nino tell us

what kind of weather do expect on

average and over a long period of time

from Noah's climate Prediction Center

I'm Ned

Gardner

[Music]