Weatherlawyer wrote:
Someone tell me how a warm pool in the south Pacific can affect the
north Indian without the ability to cross the equator.
We are talking about a temperature difference here of something less
than a degree Centigrade:
From Earth Observatory:
La Niņa, the counterpart to El Niņo, alters rainfall patterns over the
Pacific and Indian Ocean basins.
La Niņa develops when stronger-than-average trade winds push the warm
surface waters of the equatorial Pacific west. Since cold water rises
to replace the warm water, La Niņa leaves the eastern and central
Pacific Ocean much cooler than normal, while the western Pacific is
much warmer than normal.
These anomalies in sea surface temperature are mirrored in rainfall
patterns, with warmer-than-normal temperatures resulting in enhanced
rainfall. In general, La Niņa brings unusually heavy rain to the West
Pacific, Indonesia, parts of South east Asia, and northern Australia.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/New...3?img_id=17901
Please note the near-surface current that flows from the N. Pacific,
across Indonesia, into the Indian Ocean.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermohaline_circulation