La Niña conditions in the coming months will be short-lived: WMO

IN INDIA, AN EL NIÑO IS ASSOCIATED WITH HARSHER SUMMER, WEAKER MONSOON. LA NIÑA, MEANWHILE, IS ASSOCIATED WITH STRONG MONSOON AND COLDER WINTERS

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI: La Niña conditions are likely to develop over the next three months, but the phase is expected to be relatively weak and short-lived, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday.

Predictions from WMO's Global Producing Centres of Long-Range Forecasts indicate a 55% likelihood of a transition from the current neutral conditions (neither El Niño nor La Niña) to La Niña conditions from December 2024 to February 2025.

The return of the ENSO-neutral conditions is again likely during February-April 2025, with about 55% chance, WMO said.

La Niña refers to the large-scale cooling of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, coupled with changes in the tropical atmospheric circulation, such as winds, pressure and rainfall. El Niño is just the opposite; it represents the warm phase of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.