How Do El Niño and La Niña Impact Georgia?

Georgia’s weather swings from wet winters to dry ones, and from quiet hurricane seasons to active ones. Two weather patterns thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean control much of this change.

What’s Happening: El Niño and La Niña are opposite weather patterns that happen when ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator change. Trade winds normally blow warm water from South America toward Asia. When those winds weaken, warm water pushes back east, creating El Niño. When the winds get stronger than normal, they push even more warm water west and bring cold water up from the deep ocean, creating La Niña.

What’s Important: These patterns shift the jet stream that guides storms across the United States. That means Georgia gets different weather depending on which patter