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el nino
EL NINO
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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www.weather.gov 
