Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
At least 100 dead, major disaster declared after catastrophic Texas flood. Read the latest Chevron right
Flash flood threat to continue in central Texas into midweek. Get details Chevron right

Columbus, OH

71°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

71°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Weather News

What is La Nina?

From the sun and sand of Southern California to the mountainous, snowy landscapes of New England, the climatological phenomenon known as La Niña can have a major impact on how winter weather unfolds across the United States.

By Mary Gilbert, AccuWeather meteorologist

Copied

Will it be a cold and snowy winter? Lincoln Riddle spoke with AccuWeather’s long-range experts to find out.

The term La Niña may be one that casual weather observers, as well as aficionados, hear meteorologists using from time to time, especially when breaking down long-term weather trends or providing a sneak peek at conditions expected during an upcoming winter or hurricane season. But, what exactly is La Niña? Let's take an in-depth look.

The key to how winter in the United States may unfold often lies thousands of miles away in the open waters of the equatorial Pacific Ocean. It's there that the roots of a climatological phenomenon known as La Niña originate, eventually helping shape weather patterns worldwide.

The pattern occurs when sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean drop to lower-than-average levels for an extended amount of time. This process is the exact opposite of El Niño, a phase in which sea surface temperatures rise to above-average levels.

La Niña, which translates to "little girl" in Spanish, and El Niño, which translates to "little boy" in Spanish, are two phases of a three-pronged natural climate pattern that occurs across a large portion of the tropical Pacific Ocean known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO's three phases are broken down into La Niña's cool phase, El Niño's warm phase and a phase that is neither warm nor cool, known as neutral.

Meteorologists often refer to the effects of climate patterns using a concept known as teleconnections. Teleconnections are a series of factors, like sea surface temperatures, that can have implications on weather conditions in areas far from the origin of those factors.

Want to know what the weather will be like in a few days? According to AccuWeather Meteorologist Joe Bauer, people who live in the United States can often just look to the west.

"Most of the weather the U.S. experiences first has to travel across the Pacific Ocean," Bauer explained.

The weather impacts of La Niña in the U.S. are often most apparent during the winter, although the climate pattern typically lasts nine months to a year and can occasionally last for years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

So, how can La Niña, a phenomenon that occurs thousands of miles away, influence weather in the U.S.? The cooler water in the equatorial Pacific can help to amplify the northern jet stream, also known as the polar jet stream, which is a major driver in where storms track across the country during winter. A more potent polar jet stream ushers in colder air and more frequent storms across the northern tier of the nation. At the same time, the pattern also weakens the southern jet stream, known as the subtropical jet stream, and often results in drier and milder weather across southern areas of the U.S.

One of the tell-tale signs of a La Niña winter is wetter-than-normal weather across the Pacific Northwest. Typically, western Canada and the northwestern U.S. endure the stormiest conditions during a La Niña winter. However, the storms generally lose intensity as they travel over the northern Rockies. If a storm is potent enough, it can reach farther eastward and deliver snow to portions of the Midwest or the Great Lakes region. However, on average, the storms during a La Niña winter lack enough moisture to produce a major storm for areas farther east of the Great Lakes.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

Even though stronger storms may not make it past the Rockies as frequently, a greater number of weak storms may navigate across the Midwest and Great Lakes. This can keep snowfall totals at normal or even above-normal levels with many smaller events occurring, rather than a blockbuster snowstorm or two.

Winter in the Northeast is extremely variable during a La Niña phase, with conditions ranging from colder and drier to mild and stormier.

While an El Niño pattern can fuel streams of moisture into California, a typical La Niña winter prevents storms from delivering snow and rain to the region.

"During a moderate to strong La Niña, Southern California can run drier than normal throughout the wet season, leading to more drought conditions," AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Forecaster Paul Pastelok said.

Similar concerns exist for much of the Southwest during a La Niña winter.

"As the active storm track remains displaced well to the north, the Southwest typically stays warm and dry," Bauer explained.

With a less potent southern jet stream, mild conditions are able to span from the Four Corners region to the Southeast and even north into parts of the mid-Atlantic during a La Niña winter.

La Niña's role in Atlantic hurricane season

It's not just during winter that La Niña makes its presence felt. La Niña also has a significant influence on tropical development in the Atlantic basin during hurricane season.

When a La Niña phase occurs, less wind shear is found in the regions of the Atlantic basin where tropical weather develops, increasing the potential for a higher-than-normal amount of tropical systems.

La Niña was in place for both the prolific 2005 and 2020 Atlantic hurricane seasons. The 2005 season featured the devastating Hurricane Katrina and was also the first time the predetermined list of designated storm names had been exhausted. Forecasters had to turn to Greek letters to name storms for the first time in history. The second and final time forecasters would tap into the Greek alphabet was the record-breaking 2020 hurricane season. That year featured an unprecedented 11 direct strikes from tropical cyclones on U.S. soil, including the now-infamous Hurricane Laura.

Both La Niña and El Niño tend to reach peak intensity from fall, which is a key time for hurricane season impacts, through winter.

Read more:

Winter forecast for the US in the 2024-25 season
From the eye to storm surge: The anatomy of a hurricane
What is El Niño and how does it affect the weather?
Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

video

House swept away by raging floodwaters in New Mexico

Jul. 8, 2025
Weather News

At least 100 dead, major disaster declared after Texas flood

Jul. 9, 2025
Weather News

US Coast Guard rescue swimmer hailed as a hero after saving 165 kids f...

Jul. 8, 2025
Weather News

The faces of the Texas flooding tragedy

Jul. 7, 2025
Severe Weather

Severe weather to rumble in the central US through the holiday weekend

Jul. 6, 2025
Weather News

Record sargassum seaweed piles up on Caribbean islands, Gulf

Jul. 2, 2025
Weather News

Alabama teen in ICU after lightning strike hits boat, causing burns an...

Jul. 2, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather News

Camp Mystic, site of deadly Texas flooding, is in 'Flash Flood Alley'

12 hours ago

Weather News

‘Oh my God, we’re floating’: What people faced in amid Texas floods

23 hours ago

Weather Forecasts

Flash flood threat to continue in central Texas into midweek

55 minutes ago

Weather News

How torrential flooding wrought tragedy at girls camp in Texas

1 day ago

Severe Weather

Flooding downpours, severe thunderstorms to mitigate heat in East

14 hours ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Travel

FAA investigating part of a Delta Air Lines wing fell onto a driveway

5 days ago

Health

Three hospitalized, 21 injured after bee attack in France

1 day ago

Weather News

France leads Europe in saying au revoir to beach and park smoking

5 days ago

Weather News

125,000-year-old ‘fat factory’ run by Neanderthals discovered

1 day ago

Weather News

An ambitious vision of a city built from lava

1 day ago

AccuWeather Weather News What is La Nina?
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...