During November 2010, the ongoing La Nina was reflected by below-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the equatorial Pacific Ocean. For the second straight month, only small changes were evident in the Nino SST indices, with ranged from -1.3 deg C to -1.7 deg C.Consistent with nearly all ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) forecast models, La Nina is expected to peak during December-January and to continue into Northern Hemisphere spring 2011. Thereafter, the fate of La Nina is more uncertain.
Impacts of La Nina in the west is above-average precipitation from the Pacific Northwest into the northern Rockies due to an active storm track. This can also be a somewhat milder temperature pattern due to suppression of arctic outbreaks.
