On September 9th, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed that a La Nina event has commenced and will last through the winter of 2020 in the northern hemisphere.  The effects of La Nina in the Pacific include an intense hurricane season, a cold, wet winter for the Midwest, dry weather in the southeast states, wetter conditions for northern Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and extremely dry conditions for the Pacific coast region of South America.

NOAA issued a La Nina watch in July as reported by EGG-NEWS.  The global effects of a La Nina are due to lower ocean surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific and movement of the jet stream southward over North America.

NOAA is currently evaluating the effect of global warming that may interact with La Nina and El Nino events which occur in roughly three to five year cycles.  Brandon Miller, a meteorologist affiliated to cable news channel CNN noted, “2020 is already trending as one of the top two warmest years on record.”  He added, “top spots on the warmest years used to be reserved for the strong El Nino years, but human influence has long since overwhelmed the planet’s natural temperature regulators.”

Information on the La Nina event can be retrieved by accessing “El Nino” in the SEARCH feature