El Nino / La Nina Rainfall Comparison

ENSO - El Niño / La Nina Information for Site 165

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+2.5165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon12.0058.4%
21998+2.3165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon47.04228.8%
31983+2.1165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon46.87228.0%
41973+2.0165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon30.80149.8%
51958+1.7165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon37.48182.3%
61992+1.6165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon28.26137.5%
71966+1.5165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon21.46104.4%

Top 10 Wettest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11998165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonStrong El Niño+2.347.04228.8%
21983165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonStrong El Niño+2.146.87228.0%
31978165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonWeak El Niño+0.845.83222.9%
42005165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonWeak El Niño+0.745.77222.6%
51995165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonModerate El Niño+1.044.79217.9%
61969165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonModerate El Niño+1.043.84213.2%
71993165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonNeutral+0.343.02209.2%
81958165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonStrong El Niño+1.737.48182.3%
91980165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonWeak El Niño+0.631.32152.3%
101973165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonStrong El Niño+2.030.80149.8%

Strongest La Ninas

#Water
Year
IntensitySiteSeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11974-1.9165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon17.0082.7%
21989-1.8165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon10.8352.7%
31976-1.6165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon14.5971.0%
42000-1.6165 - Ojai-Stewart Canyon18.0087.5%

Top 10 Driest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
12007165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonModerate El Niño+1.06.4231.2%
22002165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonNeutral-0.27.1935.0%
31987165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonModerate El Niño+1.28.4341.0%
42013165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonNeutral-0.48.6241.9%
51990165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonNeutral+0.18.7742.7%
61961165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonNeutral0.08.7942.8%
72014165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonNeutral-0.59.6747.0%
81972165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonWeak La Nina-0.810.3350.2%
91964165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonModerate El Niño+1.110.8052.5%
101989165 - Ojai-Stewart CanyonStrong La Nina-1.810.8352.7%