El Nino / La Nina Rainfall Comparison

ENSO - El Niño / La Nina Information for Site 153

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+2.5153A - Ojai-Bower Tree Farm10.2949.9%
21998+2.3153A - Ojai-Bower Tree Farm54.22262.8%
31983+2.1153A - Ojai-Bower Tree Farm46.99227.8%
41973+2.0153 - Ojai-Barrett Ranch28.79139.6%
51958+1.7153 - Ojai-Barrett Ranch38.05184.4%
61992+1.6153A - Ojai-Bower Tree Farm29.45142.8%
71966+1.5153 - Ojai-Barrett Ranch22.98111.4%

Top 10 Wettest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11998153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmStrong El Niño+2.354.22262.8%
22005153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmWeak El Niño+0.751.01247.3%
31983153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmStrong El Niño+2.146.99227.8%
41969153 - Ojai-Barrett RanchModerate El Niño+1.045.32219.7%
51978153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmWeak El Niño+0.844.87217.5%
61995153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmModerate El Niño+1.042.89207.9%
71993153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmNeutral+0.340.66197.1%
81958153 - Ojai-Barrett RanchStrong El Niño+1.738.05184.4%
91952153 - Ojai-Barrett RanchWeak El Niño+0.536.10175.0%
102011153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmModerate La Nina-1.431.14150.9%

Strongest La Ninas

#Water
Year
IntensitySiteSeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11974-1.9153 - Ojai-Barrett Ranch17.8686.6%
21989-1.8153A - Ojai-Bower Tree Farm11.7757.1%
31976-1.6153 - Ojai-Barrett Ranch14.1368.5%
42000-1.6153A - Ojai-Bower Tree Farm19.5094.5%

Top 10 Driest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
12007153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmModerate El Niño+1.07.6437.0%
22002153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmNeutral-0.27.7737.7%
31987153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmModerate El Niño+1.27.9238.4%
41961153 - Ojai-Barrett RanchNeutral0.08.4240.8%
51990153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmNeutral+0.18.8342.8%
61951153 - Ojai-Barrett RanchWeak La Nina-0.89.2244.7%
72014153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmNeutral-0.59.7347.2%
82013153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmNeutral-0.410.2349.6%
92016153A - Ojai-Bower Tree FarmStrong El Niño+2.510.2949.9%
101959153 - Ojai-Barrett RanchWeak El Niño+0.610.4650.7%