El Nino has fully developed in the Pacific
Water temperatures off the west coast of South America have warmed about 1°C above normal. That's enough to declare the official onset of El Nino. This alters the weather patterns around the world.
Of importance to us, is the affect El Nino has on hurricanes. West-to-east blowing winds in the upper atmosphere tend to increase when the water temps rise in the Pacific. The faster winds tear apart developing tropical systems.
Furthermore, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center expects El Nino to continue to build into the coming winter. That usually means wetter weather for us...eventually.
The graph to the right shows the output from various long-range computer models. While the amount of warming varies among the models, they all forecast some additional warming of the water near the equator in the Pacific Ocean.
El Nino conditions develop every two to five years and usually last about 12 months. The last El Nino was in 2006.
Right on time, it seems.
By eventually wetter weather, do you mean a wetter winter for us? Aren't our winters typically pretty damp?
RESPONSE from TIM HELLER: Yes, this could mean above average precipitation this winter, more than normal.
Posted by: Kelly Hooper | July 10, 2009 at 02:29 AM