![\"Typical](\"https:\/\/www.kxan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2024\/12\/la-nina-still.png?w=900\")
The above photo illustrates a typical La Ni\u00f1a pattern. (KXAN Photo\/Eric Henrikson)<\/p>\nAUSTIN (KXAN) \u2014 The Climate Prediction Center announced Thursday that La Ni\u00f1a has officially started. A detailed analysis found La Ni\u00f1a began in December 2024, with a weak La Ni\u00f1a favored during the rest of this winter.<\/p>\n
La Ni\u00f1a is the cool phase of ENSO (El Ni\u00f1o-Southern Oscillation) that is marked by sea-surface water temperatures 0.5\u00baC below the climatological average in a key area of the eastern Pacific.<\/p>\n
Those water temperatures reached that key metric in December, marking the long-awaited arrival of La Ni\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
La Ni\u00f1a is marked by sea-surface water temperatures in a key area of the eastern Pacific. (Image: NOAA\/CPC)<\/p>\n
La Ni\u00f1a typically has the greatest impact on the Northern Hemisphere in the winter season as the jet stream or storm track is pushed farther north, keeping it cooler in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest, whereas warmer and drier temperatures are more common in the southern states.<\/p>\n
The above photo illustrates a typical La Ni\u00f1a pattern. (KXAN Photo\/Eric Henrikson)<\/p>\n
Much of the South is currently dealing with or bracing for winter weather. The La Ni\u00f1a pattern doesn’t mean it won’t get cold, wet or wintry. Rather, winter typically is warmer and drier for southern areas.<\/p>\n
This is expected to be a short-duration La Ni\u00f1a, with an ENSO Neutral pattern (neither cool nor warm phase) expected to return in the March-May period.<\/p>\n
While forecasting climate patterns like ENSO, they become more complicated before the spring season is completed.<\/p>\n
![\"ENSO](\"https:\/\/www.kxan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-09-at-8.29.39%E2%80%AFAM.png?w=900\")
ENSO probabilities are illustrated in a graph from the NOAA\/CPC. (Image: NOAA\/CPC)<\/p>\n
The odds favor ENSO Neutral conditions to continue through summer and into next fall. While Neutral is favored, the odds of another La Ni\u00f1a are substantially higher than the return of El Ni\u00f1o as we head through the fall months.<\/p>\n
In conclusion, La Ni\u00f1a has officially started, and it’s expected to have a significant impact on the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in the winter season. The good news is that it’s expected to be a short-duration La Ni\u00f1a, with an ENSO Neutral pattern expected to return in the spring.<\/p>\n
Q: What is La Ni\u00f1a?<\/strong> Q: How will La Ni\u00f1a affect the weather?<\/strong> Q: How long will La Ni\u00f1a last?<\/strong> Q: What about the rest of 2025?<\/strong> La Ni\u00f1a Officially Starts: What to Expect for the Rest of Winter AUSTIN (KXAN) \u2014 The Climate Prediction Center announced Thursday that La Ni\u00f1a has officially started. A detailed analysis found La Ni\u00f1a began in December 2024, with a weak La Ni\u00f1a favored during the rest of this winter. What is La Ni\u00f1a? La Ni\u00f1a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10284","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-weather"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.kxan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2025\/01\/Screenshot-2025-01-09-at-8.29.11%E2%80%AFAM.png?w=900&w=899&resize=899,571&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10284"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10286,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10284\/revisions\/10286"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nA: La Ni\u00f1a is the cool phase of ENSO (El Ni\u00f1o-Southern Oscillation) that is marked by sea-surface water temperatures 0.5\u00baC below the climatological average in a key area of the eastern Pacific.<\/p>\n
\nA: La Ni\u00f1a typically has the greatest impact on the Northern Hemisphere in the winter season, keeping it cooler in the Pacific Northwest and Upper Midwest, whereas warmer and drier temperatures are more common in the southern states.<\/p>\n
\nA: This is expected to be a short-duration La Ni\u00f1a, with an ENSO Neutral pattern (neither cool nor warm phase) expected to return in the March-May period.<\/p>\n
\nA: The odds favor ENSO Neutral conditions to continue through summer and into next fall. While Neutral is favored, the odds of another La Ni\u00f1a are substantially higher than the return of El Ni\u00f1o as we head through the fall months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"