La Nina’s Expected End Arrives: What Comes Next?
Scientists have announced that the long-awaited La Nina weather event has ended after only a few months.
La Nina, which started much later than expected, began to show its effects in December 2024 and was officially declared in January. However, due to its late start, it did not strengthen enough, and by March 2025, the tropical Pacific had warmed up again. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), we are currently in a “neutral” state in the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, meaning there are no active El Nino or La Nina events. DESPITE LA NINA, TEMPERATURE RECORDS ARE BEING BROKEN
La Nina generally brings cold and rainy winters to the north of North America, while bringing hot and dry winters to the south. It is also expected to lower global temperatures. However, due to global warming, 2025 continued to break temperature records despite La Nina. La Nina begins when sea surface temperatures drop by about 0.5°C below the long-term average. This occurred in December 2024, but by March 2025, sea temperatures had returned to average levels, and La Nina conditions had ended. Researchers are not sure why La Nina started so late, but the oceans being warmer than average in 2024 may have influenced this. NOAA expects the tropical Pacific to remain neutral throughout the summer and likely into the fall. However, this does not mean that the weather conditions will be “average” or “predictable.” During periods when there is no El Nino or La Nina effect, weather conditions can become more uncertain. WHAT IS LA NINA?
La Nina is a natural climate cycle event that can cause extreme weather events worldwide. While its effects vary from region to region, during a La Nina period, winter temperatures are higher in the South and colder than normal in the North. While the world has experienced some of the warmest summer seasons in recent years, El Nino has often been mentioned as a factor behind extreme temperatures. El Nino, which causes sea surface temperatures in the equatorial regions of the Pacific Ocean to be warmer than normal, heats up the ocean surface and triggers droughts and fires in some regions, as well as rainfall and extreme weather events in others. El Nino and La Nina are two opposing climate events that affect global weather patterns. However, both are part of the climate cycle called the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO is a climate cycle based on changes in sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean. On the other hand, La Nina refers to sea surface temperatures in the equatorial regions of the Pacific Ocean being colder than normal.
