El Nino / La Nina Rainfall Comparison

ENSO - El Niño / La Nina Information for Site 064

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+2.5064B - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley11.7154.3%
21998+2.3064B - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley52.98245.7%
31983+2.1064B - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley48.84226.5%
41973+2.0064B - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley42.06195.1%
51958+1.7064A - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley37.42173.6%
61992+1.6064B - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley32.38150.2%
71966+1.5064A - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley25.14116.6%

Top 10 Wettest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
12005064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyWeak El Niño+0.754.93254.8%
21998064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyStrong El Niño+2.352.98245.7%
31983064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyStrong El Niño+2.148.84226.5%
41978064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyWeak El Niño+0.847.57220.6%
51914064 - Upper Ojai-Dennison RanchN/AN/A46.26214.6%
61969064A - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyModerate El Niño+1.046.06213.6%
71995064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyModerate El Niño+1.045.97213.2%
81993064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyNeutral+0.343.97203.9%
91941064 - Upper Ojai-Dennison RanchN/AN/A42.95199.2%
101973064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyStrong El Niño+2.042.06195.1%

Strongest La Ninas

#Water
Year
IntensitySiteSeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11974-1.9064B - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley19.8792.2%
21989-1.8064B - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley11.2652.2%
31976-1.6064B - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley18.7687.0%
42000-1.6064B - Upper Ojai-Happy Valley19.6090.9%

Top 10 Driest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11912064 - Upper Ojai-Dennison RanchN/AN/A2.109.7%
21951064A - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyWeak La Nina-0.86.0328.0%
32007064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyModerate El Niño+1.07.0732.8%
41924064 - Upper Ojai-Dennison RanchN/AN/A7.1333.1%
52002064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyNeutral-0.27.5234.9%
61948064A - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyN/AN/A7.9937.1%
71987064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyModerate El Niño+1.28.2338.2%
82013064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyNeutral-0.49.0341.9%
91961064A - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyNeutral0.09.1242.3%
101990064B - Upper Ojai-Happy ValleyNeutral+0.19.2943.1%