2010–12 La Niña event

The 2010–12 La Niña event was one of the strongest on record. It caused Australia to experience its wettest September on record in 2010, and its second-wettest year on record in 2010.^[2] It also led to an unusual intensification of the Leeuwin Current,^[3] the 2010 Pakistan floods, the 2010–11 Queensland floods, and the 2011 Horn of Africa drought. It also helped keep the average global temperature below recent trends, leading to 2011 tying with 1997 for the 14th-warmest year on record.

Meteorological progression

The 2009–10 El Niño event started in the Pacific Ocean during May 2009, before it reached it peaked during December and broke down during the first quarter of 2010.^[4][5] The climate of the Pacific Ocean subsequently returned to neutral conditions by the end of April, while climate models used and developed by various meteorological agencies, subsequently started to show signs that a La Niña event would develop later in 2010.^[4][6] Over the next month the Pacific Ocean started to show various signals that indicated a La Niña event was developing and as a result, a La Niña watch was issued by the United States Climate Prediction Center during their June 2010 ENSO diagnostic discussion.^[4][7] As the ocean's surface temperature cooling progressed, more colder anomalies appeared at the International Date Line rather than over eastern Pacific, what allowed calling this event as a Modoki one.^[8]

Impacts

Australia experienced its second- and third-wettest years, since a record of the rainfall started to kept during 1900.^[4] 2009–10 was a dry winter for California, and meteorologists warned the abnormally dry conditions could occur in the next six months, but lots of rainfall from the La Niña helped the prevention of drought that would've been likely by the next winter. Because this was a La Niña Modoki, it brought California the wettest December on record and the summer of 2011 was California's fifth-wettest. The Pacific Northwest saw 2011 being one of the coolest, wettest years on record, with temperatures still in the 50s and rain/snow mix even in May. The Midwest, Southeastern, and Northeastern United States also experienced an extremely wet 2011, leading to flooding across the Mississippi River, Missouri River, and the Ohio River. Texas fell into major drought with 2010–12 being some of the driest years ever for the state, starting the 2010–13 Southern U.S. and Mexico drought. Its cattle and agricultural production was in dire distress. 2011 was also one of the hottest years in Texas history. Several pictures were taken of the state "turning browner than ever" said meteorologist Stephanie Abrams.

Notes

References