This winter, areas across the globe experienced a shift in rain patterns due to the natural weather phenomenon known as El Niño. New NASA visualizations of rainfall data show the various changes to California.According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, El Niño was expected to produce wetter-than-average conditions from December 2015 to February 2016. Scientists refer to historical weather patterns and to look at trends of where precipitation normally occurs during El Niño events. Also, several factors—not just El Niño—can contribute to unusual weather pattern.
NASA's fleet of satellites tracked the tremendous rainfall experienced by Los Angeles in January 2016. Satellites tracked the effects of El Nino related rainfall in San Francisco.