La Nina is the cooling of large areas of water in tropical parts of the Pacific Ocean, resulting in climatic disturbances. It often follows shortly after El Nino, an ocean-warming phenomenon. La Nina brought near-record rainfall to central and northern Australia the past two years, as well as severe flooding in areas a few hundred miles northwest of Sydney. He noted that September and October generally are Sydney's two driest months. Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., also noticed a fading of La Nina in June after using satellites to measure sea surface height.
Warm water produces higher levels than cool water.
But the NASA scientists cautioned that La Nina seemed to be on the verge of vanishing in mid-1999, only to be reinvigorated by the end of the year. Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Copyright 2000, Digital Chicago Inc.