what happens in the pacific ocean during a la nina event
La Niña La Niña is the positive phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation and is associated with cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.[3] However, each country and island nation has a different threshold for what constitutes a La Niña event, which is tailored to their specific interests.[4] For example, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology looks at the trade winds, SOI, weather models and sea surface temperatures in the Niño 3 and 3.4 regions before declaring that a La Niña event has started.[5] However, the Japan Meteorological Agency declares that a La Niña event has started when the average five-month sea surface temperature deviation for the NINO.3 region is more than 0.5 °C (0.90 °F) cooler for 6 consecutive months or longer.[6]