El Niño

American  

[el neen-yoh, el nee-nyaw] / ɛl ˈnin yoʊ, ɛl ˈni nyɔ /

noun

1. a warm ocean current of variable intensity that develops after late December along the coast of Ecuador and Peru and sometimes causes catastrophic weather conditions.

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El Niño British  

/ ɛl ˈniːnjəʊ /

noun

1. meteorol a warming of the eastern tropical Pacific occurring every few years, which alters the weather pattern of the tropics

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El Niño Scientific  

/ ĕlnēn′yō /

1. A warming of the surface water of the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, occurring every 4 to 12 years and causing unusual global weather patterns. An El Niño is said to occur when the trade winds that usually push warm surface water westward weaken, allowing the warm water to pool as far eastward as the western coast of South America. When this happens, the typical pattern of coastal upwelling that carries nutrients from the cold depths to the ocean surface is disrupted, and fish and plankton die off in large numbers. El Niño warming is associated with the atmospheric phenomenon known as the southern oscillation, and their combined effect brings heavy rain to western South American and drought to eastern Australia and Indonesia. El Niño also affects the weather in the United States, but not as predictably.

2. Compare La Niña

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El Niño Cultural  

1. A warming of the surface water of the eastern and central Pacific Ocean, occurring every four to twelve years when cold water does not rise to the surface, causing unusual weather patterns. The warmer water kills fish and plankton, brings heavy rains to western South America, and causes drought in eastern Australia and Indonesia.

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Etymology

Origin of El Niño

< Spanish: literally, the child, i.e., the Christ child, alluding to the appearance of the current near Christmas

Example Sentences

Sea surface temperatures were slightly lower than in 2023 and 2024, largely because conditions shifted from El Niño to La Niña in the tropical Pacific.

From Science Daily

One such variable is the switch between the weather patterns El Niño and La Niña.

From BBC

In some regions, El Niño is linked to dry extremes, while in others the same dry conditions are associated with La Niña.

From Science Daily

The truth is La Niña and El Niño are by no means the only predictor of climate patterns going into California’s autumn-and-winter rain-and-snow season.

From Los Angeles Times

Californians commonly think of La Niña, a natural climate pattern involving cooler sea surface temperatures, as a herald of drought, and the sibling El Niño pattern as synonymous with wet winters.

From Los Angeles Times