El Nino is the disruption of the ocean-atmosphere system over the tropical waters of the Pacific. Typically, the Pacific Ocean's warmest temperatures are west of the International Data Line, enhancing a major concentration of tropical thunderstorms. Every three to seven years, the warm water moves eastward to the coast of South America. This shifts the development of tropical thunderstorms to the central Pacific Ocean. Changing the storms' location alters the jet stream which interrupts the normal wet and dry weather pattern across the globe.

El Nino has been a hot news topic in the last couple of months. During the past El Nino events, wetter than normal winters have been observed across the southern U.S., in places like Orlando, New Orleans, Phoenix and Los Angeles. In contrast, winters have been warmer and somewhat drier across the Pacific Northwest, like Seattle and Portland.

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