Never truly understood what either El Niño or La Niña are and everytime I look it up I get nothing that makes sense. Please explain
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[The National Ocean Service](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html) has a page dedicated to El Niño and La Niña which gives a brief explanation.
But in general, El Niño and La Niña are climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that can impact the weather world wide. Currently we are at the end of an El Niño period, and experts believe we will enter a La Niña period during the summer. Each cycle usually last around a year, but they can last several years as well.
During El Niño, it is generally warmer and dryer in the northern parts of the US and Canada, but wetter in the southern parts of the US with increased flooding.
During La Niña, it’s essentially the other way around with the climate being wetter and colder in the north, and warmer and dryer in the south. During La Niña, hurricanes are usually worse as well.
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