LA NIÑA

The cold phase of El Niño, or when convection in the western Pacific and southeasterly trades are anomalously high. If you consider that El Niño is one extreme of the Southern Oscillation with increased convection over the eastern Pacific and decreased convection over the eastern Pacific and decreased convection over the western Pacific, then La Niña is the opposite extreme with intensified convection over the western Pacific so convection over the eastern Pacific is minimized.