#la-nina

#la-nina

After months of slight temperature shifts in the Pacific Ocean, La Niña has officially returned - the climate pattern that typically drives drought in Southern California. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday that La Niña conditions had arrived, a possibly foreboding sign for the Southland. The southern half of the Golden State still has not bounced back from the last year of below-average rainfall, and the reemergence of the ocean phenomenon could mean more drought, with another drier-than-average winter.

Forecasters at the US Climate Prediction Center have issued a La Nina watch, indicating the Pacific Ocean surface will likely cool, heightening Atlantic storm risks.