To understand one of the most powerful control on weather across the planet, we have to comprehend how and where one of the strongest El Nino in a generation generates and grows. A thousand miles south of Hawaii, very strong trade winds from northern and southern meet creating thick storm clouds and icy cirrus haze together with overheated waters that generates energy into the atmosphere and as a consequence roiling weather worldwide. That is the dominant power of El Nino.

All the information collected in this area, at the heart of El Nino, and together with weather models (studied in Module 4), will improve forecasting of the storm’s effect on weather and to better understand how all this process develops. The effects of El Nino can lead to more winter rain to the United States but more dry conditions to southern Africa, an area that has already being affected by droughts. So like with any model, data is a key factor. This is why we have been developing better satellites and networks to develop better representations and measure sea-surface temperatures and other ocean characteristics. To understand El Nino better, data must be also obtained from the atmosphere, since it occurs when the trade winds stop moving.

So scientists keep developing techniques to understand and predict El Nino better since the rain that the storm delivers in some areas is essential to the ecology but also to better predict typhoons, rainstorms and droughts.

References:

• Fountain, H. (2016, February 01). Studying the Heart of El Niño, Where Its Weather Begins. Retrieved February 23, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/science/where-el-nino-weather-begins-pacific-ocean-noaa.html

• Bromwich, J. (2015, December 16). Understanding El Niño. Retrieved February 23, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/science/understanding-el-nino.html?_r=0