For many people, El Niño and La Niña mean floods or drought, but the events are actually a warming or cooling of the eastern Pacific Ocean that impacts rainfall. These sea surface temperature and rainfall anomaly images show the direct correlation between ocean temperatures and rainfall during El Niño and La Niña events.
Published Oct 24, 2009
Rainfall across the United States in the winter of 2005–06 has shown the classic pattern of a La Niña event. This ocean-atmosphere pattern was likely responsible for the drought in the Southwest, the South, the central Plains, and Florida which led to several devastating wildfires.
Published Mar 15, 2006
By late February 2018, an estimated 55 percent of the continental U.S. was classified as abnormally dry.
Published Mar 2, 2018
Cyclonic winds help state-sized areas of sea ice go missing from the middle of the ice pack around Antarctica.
Published May 29, 2019
A nocturnal low-level jet stream brings large thunderstorms across the U.S. Midwest each summer.
Published Oct 7, 2020
More than 64 million people are directly affected by drought in the Southwest and Southern Plains, and far more are indirectly affected because of the vast number of farms, orchards, and ranches that supply the rest of the United States.
Published Nov 27, 2014
The U.S. Drought Monitor reports its lowest levels in 17 years.
Published May 5, 2017
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