El Nino / La Nina Rainfall Comparison

ENSO - El Niño / La Nina Information for Site 032

ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) is the warming and cooling of the ocean water along the Equator in the Eastern Pacific Ocean near South America. The warm phase is called El Niño and the cold phase is called La Nina.

When the Eastern Pacific Ocean is 0.5 degrees Celsius above normal for 5 consecutive 3-month average periods, an El Niño is declared. When the Eastern Pacific Ocean is 0.5 degrees Celsius below normal for 5 consecutive 3-month average periods, a La Nina is declared.

The El Niño and La Nina are declared as Weak, Moderate, or Strong depending on how far from normal the water temperature gets. When the temperature is above 1.5 degrees Celsius, it is declared as strong. When the temperature is above 1.0 degrees Celsius, it is declared as Moderate. When the temperature is above 0.5 degrees Celsius, it is declared as Weak.

The effect on Ventura County trends to be wetter with El Niños and drier with La Ninas. Although the top driest years have been Neutral or Weak or Moderate El Niños.

Data for calculating ENSO Index (ONI) is provided by the Climate Prediction Center.


Strongest El Niños

#Water
Year
IntensitySiteSeason
Total
Percent
Normal
12016+2.5032A - Oxnard Civic Center6.7246.5%
21998+2.3032 - Oxnard-Water Department36.87255.3%
31983+2.1032 - Oxnard-Water Department31.45217.8%
41973+2.0032 - Oxnard-Water Department18.56128.5%
51958+1.7032 - Oxnard-Water Department23.99166.1%
61992+1.6032 - Oxnard-Water Department18.83130.4%
71966+1.5032 - Oxnard-Water Department12.4085.9%

Top 10 Wettest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11941032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentN/AN/A38.17264.3%
21998032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentStrong El Niño+2.336.87255.3%
31983032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentStrong El Niño+2.131.45217.8%
41978032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentWeak El Niño+0.830.44210.8%
51995032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentModerate El Niño+1.028.60198.1%
61980032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentWeak El Niño+0.627.47190.2%
72005032A - Oxnard Civic CenterWeak El Niño+0.727.12187.8%
81993032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentNeutral+0.325.28175.1%
91952032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentWeak El Niño+0.524.99173.1%
101986032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentNeutral-0.424.89172.4%

Strongest La Ninas

#Water
Year
IntensitySiteSeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11974-1.9032 - Oxnard-Water Department13.6494.5%
21989-1.8032 - Oxnard-Water Department9.4565.4%
31976-1.6032 - Oxnard-Water Department11.1777.4%
42000-1.6032 - Oxnard-Water Department13.8796.1%

Top 10 Driest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11990032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentNeutral+0.14.6632.3%
21972032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentWeak La Nina-0.85.5538.4%
31924032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentN/AN/A5.6339.0%
42013032A - Oxnard Civic CenterNeutral-0.45.6839.3%
52014032A - Oxnard Civic CenterNeutral-0.55.7840.0%
61959032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentWeak El Niño+0.66.0842.1%
71948032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentN/AN/A6.0942.2%
82018032A - Oxnard Civic CenterWeak La Nina-1.06.2243.1%
92002032 - Oxnard-Water DepartmentNeutral-0.26.2643.4%
102007032A - Oxnard Civic CenterModerate El Niño+1.06.2943.6%