La Niña

n.
A cooling of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America, occurring periodically every 4 to 12 years and affecting Pacific and other weather patterns.

[American Spanish, the girl (to distinguish it from El Niño) : Spanish la, the (from Latin illa, feminine of ille) + niña, daughter (from Old Spanish ninna , from Vulgar Latin *nīnna).]

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A state of unusually cool sea surface temperatures in the western Pacific, which are associated with lowered precipitation in the southern USA and western South America, but an increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, and heavier rainfall in Indonesia and Australia. La Niña can be seen as the other extreme from El Niño.

La Niña is the opposite of El Niño. It refers to a period of cold surface temperatures of the tropical Pacific Ocean. La Niña winters are especially harsh with heavy snowfall in the northeastern United States and rain in the Pacific Northweast.

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