Can somebody tell me what El Nino means?

Answer 1

Good qestion and here is the scientific answer you are looking for. When non El Nino conditions exist we find a high pressure ridge over the eastern Pacific Ocean and lower pressures over Indonesia. This gives us the typical easterlies along the equator. This condition is accompanied by upwelling and cooler ocean water in the eastern Pacific with warmer water in the western Pacific. The trades are the lower extent of what is called the Walker circulation - rising air and heavy rain over the western Pacific and sinking dry air over the eastern Pacific. When this condition I have just described in very strong an exceptionaly cool eastern Pacific is referred to as a La Nina event. The name means "the girl child".

When the high pressure ridge over the eastern Pacific weakens and the low pressure over the western Pacific is replaced by high pressure the easterlies are weakended and basically replaced by westerlies. This carries warm water eastward and the Walker circulation is reversed with heavy precipitation over the eastern Pacific and drier sinking air over the west. This describes an El Nino event. Because it is often observed around December and Christmas it was given the name "the boy child".

The upper atmosphere reflects these reversals when a ridge in the upper atmospheric flow is replaced by a trough in the east and the trough in the west is replaced by a ridge. The trough in the east now brings the heavy precipitation into the western US bringing snow to higher elevations and latitudes and rain to northern Mexico. Because there is likely to be another trough over the eastern US, there will be warmer and wetter weather there as well. With this information you can decide which event you believe is worse, El Nino or La Nina.

I've provided you with this answer because these two weather phenomena are closely related.

Answer 2

El Nino is a warming phenomenon in the Pacific ocean. As described above. But when the ocean warms 10+ degrees and moves across the Pacific in a huge wedge to the West coast of the Americas, and occurs sporadically and unpredictably, you have to ask 'what in the world could cause that?' The only thing that makes sense to me is under sea lava extrusion. Molten rock is 5000+ degrees and could easily warm thousands of cubic miles of ocean to warm. It then travels in a widening wedge easterly with the currents. An oceanographic ship in the western Pacific sailed thru bubbling water and almost sank before it came out the other side. They felt that the only explanation was an undersea lava flow boiling the water.

Answer 3

The above two people are right, however you might also be referring to the weather pattern that affects the eastern pacific every few years.

The surface water gets a few degrees warmer than normal. This alters weather patterns, and among other things, brings increased rain to the western US and northwest Mexico.

Wikipedia has a pretty good page on it.

Answer 4

El: the (masculine form)
Nino: male child

Specifically, it is used to refer to the baby Jesus. In general, though, it could be used in reference to any young boy.

Answer 5

Al Gore

Answer 6

The boy.