Understanding El Nino

This video demonstrates how warm water in the central Pacific can influence prevailing pressure and precipitation patterns across the ocean basin. These atmospheric disturbances influence the average position of the Jet Stream. In turn, the jet alters temperature and precipitation patterns in the United States.

Video produced by the Climate.gov team in cooperation with climate and Earth scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies and institutions. Any opinions voiced by people in these videos are their own; they are not official NOAA statements or opinions. Unless specifically stated otherwise, Climate.gov video productions can be freely republished or re-purposed by others.