La Niña forces unprecedented Leeuwin Current warming in 2011

Unprecedented warming of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) off the Ningaloo Coast, Australia, was linked to the 2010-2011 La Niña event. This extreme warming, dubbed 'Ningaloo Niño,' saw SSTs peak at 5°C above normal for two weeks in February-March 2011, causing significant coral bleaching and fish mortality. The study attributes this anomaly to an intensified Leeuwin Current, a poleward-flowing ocean current that transported unusually warm water southward along the coast. Using observational data and numerical models, researchers demonstrated that the surge was driven by remote oceanic and atmospheric teleconnections associated with La Niña, amplified further by multi-decadal Pacific trends toward more La Niña-like conditions and intraseasonal Indian Ocean variations. This finding underscores the complex interplay of climate phenomena in shaping extreme coastal warming events.

Feng, M., McPhaden, M. J., Xie, S.-P., & Hafner, J. (2013). La Niña forces unprecedented Leeuwin Current warming in 2011. Scientific Reports, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep01277