COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, WORLD NEWS: The United States space agency NASA says a troublesome weather phenomenon will soon be history. A patch of cold ocean water nicknamed La Nina has been blamed for two years of unpredictable and deadly weather patterns. CNN's Natalie Pawelski reports on the demise of La Nina.</s>NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More hurricanes hitting land, drought in the southern United States, floods in Africa and South America, all are blamed on La Nina, the weather system that NASA now says is on its last legs.</s>TONY BUSALACCHI, NASA RESEARCH OCEANOGRAPHER: We do expect it to decay and die out toward the summertime.</s>PAWELSKI: Not soon enough for drought-stricken farmers, but perhaps early enough to take the edge off hurricane season, since La Nina makes it more likely that hurricanes, once born, will make landfall.</s>BUSALACCHI: We expect hurricane season to be slightly above normal, but probably not as strong as last year, and then with the effects of La Nina dying out into the second half of the hurricane season.</s>PAWELSKI: While NASA expects La Nina to die within about three months, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration caution it might last until the end of the year.</s>VERN KOUSKY, NOAA RESEARCH METEOROLOGIST: Well, La Nina has shown some signs of weakening during the past several weeks as it did last year at about the same time of year. So I think it's maybe a little bit early to kiss it off or say good-bye to it this year.</s>PAWELSKI: La Nina follows its more famous brother, El Nino, which is characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the tropical Pacific. La Nina is the opposite, featuring a band of cold ocean temperatures. Now NASA's data shows parts of the Pacific warming up again. Researchers say that heralds a return to normal weather followed by the wait for the next El Nino to be born. Natalie Pawelski, CNN.
La Nina Weather Pattern Is Weakening 