Images related to El Niño Conditions Are Growing Stronger

Weak El Niño, but Hints of Pacific Change
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Weak El Niño, but Hints of Pacific Change

Ocean conditions are not likely to help drought-stressed regions this spring. However, some broader changes might be coming in the Pacific.

Published Mar 25, 2015

Image of the Day Heat Water

El Niño Should Be Near Its Peak
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El Niño Should Be Near Its Peak

Past events suggest the phenomenon winds down after December and January. But will this year follow the pattern?

Published Jan 22, 2016

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La Niña Makes a Quiet Return
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La Niña Makes a Quiet Return

Cooler than normal conditions prevail in the central and eastern Pacific, but the event is so far considered weak.

Published Dec 22, 2017

Image of the Day Water Remote Sensing

Is El Niño Developing?
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Is El Niño Developing?

Conditions in May 2014 look similar to those in May 1997, a year that brought one of the most potent El Niño events of the 20th century.

Published May 14, 2014

Image of the Day Water

Under the Surface of El Niño
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Under the Surface of El Niño

With its own forms of underwater weather, the ocean has fronts and circulation patterns that move heat and nutrients around its basins. Changes near the surface often start with changes in the depths.

Published Mar 21, 2017

Image of the Day Heat Water Remote Sensing

Muted La Niña Follows Potent El Niño
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Muted La Niña Follows Potent El Niño

The near-record water temperatures of 2015-16 has been followed by a modest, quiet appearance of La Niña.

Published Jan 6, 2017

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El Niño Strengthening
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El Niño Strengthening

With each passing month, 2015 looks more and more like 1997.

Published Oct 13, 2015

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La Nina in progress
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La Nina in progress

Acquired September 6, 2010, this map shows cooling in the central Pacific Ocean consistent with La Niña conditions.

Published Sep 19, 2010

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Warm Water and Strange Weather May Be Connected
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Warm Water and Strange Weather May Be Connected

Temperature anomalies in the eastern Pacific Ocean are both influencing and being influenced by unusual weather patterns. The effects are rippling through the marine environment.

Published Apr 18, 2015

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El Nino Resurging in November 2009
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El Nino Resurging in November 2009

A wave of warm water pooling in the central and eastern Pacific appears as a large area of higher-than-normal sea surface heights in this image from early November.

Published Nov 19, 2009

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Pacific Decadal Oscillation
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Pacific Decadal Oscillation

Published Jun 26, 2001

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El Niño Strengthens in November 2009
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El Niño Strengthens in November 2009

These color-coded images show the strengthening of El Niño between October and November 2009. In the November image, warm waters (indicated in red) have spread across the Pacific.

Published Dec 11, 2009

Image of the Day Heat Water