‘Rare’ La Niña may form in the Atlantic at the same time as this year’s ‘super’ El Niño

(NEXSTAR) – While conditions are heating up for a “super” El Niño in the Pacific, the inverse may be happening in the Atlantic, where cooler-than-average temperatures may be setting the stage for an unusual La Niña.

It’s still too soon to call it official, explained Franz Philip Tuchen, an assistant professor at the University of Miami’s Department of Ocean Sciences, but some parts of the Atlantic are starting to read colder-than-normal.

“If this event persists, there is a high chance of an Atlantic Niña forming,” Tuchen said.

While La Niñas form every few years in the Pacific, they’re unusual on the other side of the country in the Atlantic.

“Atlantic Niña events have been rather rare during the last 25 years until the recent Atlantic Niña event in 2025,” Tuchen said. That being said, we seem to have entered a time period where “extreme events” are growing more common.

“We don’t really know why there are some decades or multiple decades with reduced events and some decades or multiple decades with increased events,” Tuchen said. “But we are certainly again in an era of more extreme events.”

It won’t be until later in the summer, after more data is collected, where scientists........

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