El Niño as Defined by CA Department of Conservation

El Niño causes the Pacific jet stream to move south and spread further east. During winter, this leads to wetter conditions than usual in the southern U.S. and warmer and drier conditions in the north. Source: NOAA National Ocean Service "What are El Niño and La Niña?" (https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html).

The California Department of Conservation defines "El Niño is the “warm phase” of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and features warmer than average ocean surface temperatures off the coast of Ecuador and Peru in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean."

Past effects of ENSO ( El Niño-Southern Oscillation) include:

• Landslides were reported across the state during the winter and spring 2023-2024 seasons, though were more widespread and impactful in southern California, such as the landslide which significantly blocked Topanga Canyon Boulevard (State Route 27).
• There have been less than 30 El Niño events since 1950, of which only four were very strong.

The NOAA Climate Prediction Center provides a monthly update on ENSO conditions  

Seasonal to sub-seasonal temperature and precipitation outlooks are available from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center at https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/WK34/.

Preparations for El Niño events:

If rainfall trends above average, or if multiple storms occur back-to-back, the risk of overly saturated rock and soil on steep slopes increases the risk of landslides and debris flows. Please refer to the CGS Landslides page (https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/landslides) for more information about landslides and landslide hazards in California.

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