The United Nations (UN) announced on Thursday (6th) that according to forecasts from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the cooling trend caused by the La Niña climate phenomenon, which emerged in December 2024, is not expected to persist. Analyses from the agency’s Global Production Centres for Long-Range Forecasts indicate that the current below-average sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific are expected to return to normal. According to WMO forecasts, there is a 60% chance that conditions will return to normal—neither El Niño nor La Niña—between March and May, with the probability rising to 70% between April and June. Read More The uncertainty in long-term forecasts is greater than usual due to the predictability barrier during the Northern Hemisphere’s spring.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo emphasizes that these forecasts are crucial for planning early warnings and saving millions of dollars in unnecessary expenditures for sectors such as agriculture, energy, and transportation.
La Niña
The La Niña phenomenon involves a large-scale cooling of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, along with changes in tropical atmospheric circulation, winds, pressure, and precipitation patterns. Typically, La Niña has climate impacts opposite to El Niño, especially in tropical regions. Despite La Niña having started in December 2024, the WMO notes that January 2025 was the warmest on record.
CNN Terra: La Niña Phenomenon Continues to Influence Global Climate | CNN PRIME TIME
