 You often hear the terms El Niño and La Niña when climate discussions come up. As a skier, you especially appreciate the extra snow that La Niña brings to the northern U.S. La Niña means the little girl in Spanish. La Niña episodes represent periods of below-average sea surface temperatures across the east-central equatorial Pacific. The impacts on worldwide climate of La Niña tend to be opposite of El Niño impacts. During a La Niña year, winter temperatures are usually warmer than normal in the southeast and cooler than normal in the northwest. El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of what is known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation or the ENSO cycle. La Niña is the cold phase of this cycle. These usually last about 9 to 12 months but could last years. La Niña occurs less frequently than El Niño. So instead of putting all your faith in a snow dance, you just need to know a little bit about El Niño and La Niña and their effects on temperature and precipitation. From the University of Wyoming Extension, I'm Tina Russell, Exploring the Nature of Wyoming.