Watch El Niño replace La Niña in the first half of 2023
Animation of maps of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean compared to the long-term average over five-day periods from the end of January to early June 2023. The waters in the key monitoring region, called "Niño 3.4," start out cooler than average (blue) and progressively become warmer than average (red) as La Niña ends and El Niño arrives. NOAA Climate.gov, based on Coral Reef Watch maps available from NOAA View.
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After three years of La Nina's influence on the tropics, conditions transitioned to El Niño in June 2023. The warmth shows up first in the far eastern tropical Pacific and steadily moves westward to engulf the Galápagos Islands and overtake the cool waters in the key El Niño-monitoring region. Read more in our latest ENSO blog.