El Nino / La Nina Rainfall Comparison

ENSO - El Niño / La Nina Information for Site 218

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+2.5218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station10.7548.6%
21998+2.3218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station54.73247.2%
31983+2.1218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station46.66210.7%
41973+2.0218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station33.72152.3%
51958+1.7218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationN/AN/A
61992+1.6218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station27.97126.3%
71966+1.5218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station23.85107.7%

Top 10 Wettest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11998218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationStrong El Niño+2.354.73247.2%
22005218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationWeak El Niño+0.751.35231.9%
31978218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationWeak El Niño+0.849.11221.8%
41969218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationModerate El Niño+1.048.73220.1%
51995218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationModerate El Niño+1.048.01216.8%
61983218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationStrong El Niño+2.146.66210.7%
71993218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationNeutral+0.344.54201.2%
81980218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationWeak El Niño+0.634.11154.1%
91973218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationStrong El Niño+2.033.72152.3%
101986218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationNeutral-0.432.38146.3%

Strongest La Ninas

#Water
Year
IntensitySiteSeason
Total
Percent
Normal
11974-1.9218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station16.7775.7%
21989-1.8218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station11.5852.3%
31976-1.6218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station15.4970.0%
42000-1.6218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire Station20.3091.7%

Top 10 Driest Years

#Water
Year
SiteENSO StateIntensitySeason
Total
Percent
Normal
12007218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationModerate El Niño+1.07.0031.6%
22002218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationNeutral-0.28.0736.4%
32013218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationNeutral-0.48.5938.8%
41987218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationModerate El Niño+1.29.0741.0%
52014218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationNeutral-0.59.1241.2%
61990218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationNeutral+0.19.7744.1%
72015218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationWeak El Niño+0.510.4747.3%
82012218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationWeak La Nina-0.910.6448.1%
92016218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationStrong El Niño+2.510.7548.6%
102018218 - Meiners Oaks-County Fire StationWeak La Nina-1.010.8849.1%