La Nia in the forecast after El Nio begins to fade

As the strongestEl Nioin nearly 20 years winds down, newevidence suggests that the weather system's ugly sister, La Nia, is rearing its head, according to climatologists.

• This year's El Nino will be the strongest in 18 years, WMO says
• El Nino rocks winter weather worldwide with floods, twisters, blizzards

Australian and American metrologists have announced there is now a 50 per cent likelihood La Nia will occur in the Pacific Ocean in 2016.

La Nia is the opposite of El Nio, which is characterized by warm waters in the tropical Pacific. La Nia brings with itunusually cool ocean temperatures.

"The winds blow from a different direction. They blow from the eastern Pacific to the western Pacific, they take all that warm water with them and exposes the upwell cold water,"said Dave Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada.

La Nia, however, might be less damaging than El Nio, which has been linked to serious crop damage, forest fires and flash floods.

Colder winter in B.C.

Phillips says in general, La Nia will bring a colder than normal winter.

In B.C., he says there is a high probability thatwe can expect a more frigid winter.

"A littlecooler, a little bitmore snow even on the streets of Vancouver," he said.

This after the province went through one of the warmest winters on record, he said.

The colder weather could mean good news for skiing andcommercial fishing next winter.