News, Current Status, and Forecast

La Niña in the news.
Current state of La Niña.
The forecast, for the Sea Surface Temperature (SST) field, for seasonal climate over Canada and the United States.
Links to additional information.

News

This section will be updated as La Niña stories occur in the news.

As the La Niña phenomenon develops in the tropical Pacific Ocean, detailed information about the atmospheric and ocean conditions in the tropical Pacific can be obtained by consulting NCPC and Goddard Space Flight Center websites in the United States.

The National Climate Prediction Center (NCPC), based in Washington D.C. provides the most up-to-date information on the status of El Niño and La Niña through advisories and weekly updates.

NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center information page on ENSO shows:

Most recent animation of sea surface temperature, a three dimensional relief map of sea level rise along the equator and changes in trade winds accompanying La Niña.
Animation of sea surface height as observed by the TOPEX altimeter satellite.
A primer on La Niña including an audio section
Experimental seasonal prediction over North America from computer models.

Weekly updates of conditions in the tropical Pacific including sea surface temperatures, local winds and subsurface temperature structure are available from the NOAA website.

Moored ocean buoys monitor real-time ocean and atmospheric conditions from the tropical Pacific ocean TOA allowing for improved detection and prediction of La Niña.

Forecasts

Computer models and statistical methods, along with, ocean and atmosphere measuring devices such as moored and drifting buoys and satellites, are used to accurately predict the arrival of El Niño or La Niña. The buoy measurements are part of an international research program Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA). This program is designed to study naturally occurring climate change and variation that results from interaction between the tropical ocean and global atmosphere.

Using dynamical and statistical prediction models, and the subjective assessment, the International Research Institute issues probabilistic ENSO forecast of sea surface temperature anomalies in the Niño 3.4 region. These forecasts are indicative of the El Niño, La Niña and neutral conditions.

Sea Surface Temperature (SST) field

Monthly forecast of sea surface temperature anomalies from the coupled ocean-atmosphere numerical models are provided for by the National Center for Environmental Prediction in Washington for (0 - 5 months) and (6 - 11 months)

Weekly ENSO Update