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Steitz
Headquarters, Washington, DC June 26, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1730)
Mary Hardin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-0344)
RELEASE: 98-113
The 1997-98 El Nino has been the strongest ever recorded. This
phenomenon was responsible for record rainfall in California, heavy
flooding in Peru, drought and wildfires in Indonesia, tornadoes in the
southeast United States and loss of life and property damage worldwide.
TOPEX/Poseidon's sea surface height measurements have provided
scientists with their first detailed view of how El Nino's warm pool
behaves because the satellite measures the changing sea surface height
with unprecedented precision.
"It may be too soon to say 'good-bye' El Nino and 'hello' La Nina,
because the effects of El Nino will remain in the climate system for a
long time," said Dr. Bill Patzert, a research oceanographer at JPL.
"However, if the Pacific is transitioning to a La Nina, we'd expect to
see clear, strong indication of it by late summer or early fall -- in
approximately August or September -- just like we did last year with El
Nino. The strongest impacts of a potential La Nina wouldn't be felt in
the U.S. until next winter." A La Nina does not automatically follow an
El Nino, Patzert added.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/elnino
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages
the TOPEX/Poseidon mission for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise,
Washington, DC.
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