U.S.

Say Hello To La Nina

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

June 11, 1998 / 7:53 PM EDT / CBS

The proof is in the pictures. Just released images show El Nino being squeezed out by a huge blue pool of very cold water forcing its way to the surface. Ocean temperatures are plummeting.

Michael McPhaden designed the network of ocean buoys that first detected the rapid heating up of El Nino and now the swifter cooling down. At first, he couldn't believe his eyes.

Michael McPhaden said, "When you see a 15 degree Fahrenheit drop in sea surface temperatures over 30 days, that's spectacular."

But the data checked out. Say hello to El Nino's alter ego, developing faster than ever seen before.

"We're witnessing the birth of La Nina," said McPhaden.

It s too soon to tell how big this La Nina will grow, but it s got all the markings of a monster.

The last strong La Nina in 1988-89 brought severe drought to the Midwest. Scientists fear a repeat.

It's like the flip side of El Nino. Where El Nino snuffed out Atlantic hurricanes, La Nina is likely to fuel more of them.

Southern tornadoes could shift northward. And places like California, drenched by El Nino, may dry up. Firefighters are checking out new water-choppers, anticipating a red-hot season.

Steve Valenzuela, Los Angeles County Fire Department, said, and if the La Nina effect does take place, we are going to have a lot more brush out there that's going to be a lot drier than normal.

Now, it's not all bad. The Galapagos Islands, off South America, were devastated by El Nino. The hot water killed off plankton, leaving fish, rare sea iguanas and on up the food chain, nothing to eat.

But in just one day last month, the ocean cooled an unheard of 18 degrees. Now the plankton is back and the island's rare life forms are thriving again.

Gene Feldman, oceanographer, said, "El Nino/La Nina is like a pendulum swinging so what may be good in one location may be bad in another."

It's the bad that has scientists alarmed. And, if the computer models hold true, the global wild weather ride could last another year.

For Bill Whitaker's full report, click above.