La Niña

noun

La Ni·​ña lä-ˈnē-nyə  -nyä 

plural La Niñas

: an irregularly recurring upwelling of unusually cold water to the ocean surface along the western coast of South America that often occurs following an El Niño and that disrupts typical regional and global weather patterns especially in a manner opposite to that of El Niño

Examples of La Niña in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Usually a warm El Nino spikes temperatures and its cool La Nina flip side depresses temperatures. — Dallas Morning News, 14 Jan. 2026

The atmospheric reactions to El Nino and La Nina have changed and the Sierra snowpack is running at historically low levels. — Greg Porter, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Mar. 2026

The system was rooted in a Mexican mythology known as La Nina de las Flores (The Flower Girl), where Luz kills her victims in a ritual order. — Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 18 Mar. 2026

It was also compounded by the current La Nina weather phenomenon which naturally brings wetter conditions in the southern Africa region but was now operating within a much warmer atmosphere. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 29 Jan. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, the (female) child

First Known Use

1981, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

La Niña

noun

La Ni·​ña lä-ˈnē-nyə  -nyä 

: an irregularly occurring movement of deep cold water to the ocean surface along the western coast of South America that often occurs after an El Niño and that disrupts weather patterns especially in a manner opposite that of an El Niño