That means massive flooding can be expected down in the land of Commiefornia this winter.
Latest forecast suggests 'Godzilla El Niño' may be coming to California
The strengthening El Niño in the Pacific Ocean has the potential to become one of the most powerful on record, as warming ocean waters surge toward the Americas, setting up a pattern that could bring once-in-a-generation storms this winter to drought-parched California.
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday that all computer models are now predicting a strong El Niño to peak in the late fall or early winter. A host of observations have led scientists to conclude that “collectively, these atmospheric and oceanic features reflect a significant and strengthening El Niño.”
Read all about the California drought >>
“This definitely has the potential of being the Godzilla El Niño,” said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge.
El Nino: 1997 vs. 2015
At the moment, this year’s El Niño is stronger than it was at this time of year in 1997. Areas in red and white represent the highest sea-surface heights above the average, which are a reflection of how warm sea-surface temperatures are above the average. (Source: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory climatologist Bill Patzert)
Patzert said El Niño’s signal in the ocean “right now is stronger than it was in 1997,” the summer in which the most powerful El Niño on record developed.
“Everything now is going to the right way for El Niño,” Patzert said. “If this lives up to its potential, this thing can bring a lot of floods, mudslides and mayhem.”
“This could be among the strongest El Niños in the historical record dating back to 1950,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the Climate Prediction Center.
After the summer 1997 El Niño muscled up, the following winter gave Southern California double its annual rainfall and dumped double the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, an essential source of precipitation for the state’s water supply, Patzert said.
Article copied in total in the interest of public awareness and safety from The Los Angeles Times.
I would suggest taking appropriate measures now.
Even though I live considerably farther North, we still get hammered by these weather patterns with huge storms slamming directly into the coast 100 miles away that bring fierce winds and buckets of rainfall all at once.
If I was a betting man, and I am, I would bet that the monstrous Columbus Day storm that wreaked havoc here in the Pacific Northwest back in October of 1962 was a direct result of a then unnamed El Nino weather pattern.
Get your foul weather gear ready kiddies.
3 comments:
Sounds like time to get the pump out of the garage, change the oil and spark plug in the motor, unroll to hose to check it's condition, and maybe pick up another 5 gallon gas can.
Only had to use the pump back in the 2009/2010 winter. Had to pump the back yard out to the street because the water was getting deep enough to start running into the garage.....
I could use some pineapple express
An El Nino event increases the probability of a wetter than normal winter for the west coast and Great Basin. It is not a guarantee. We have only known about El Nino/El Nina for about 50 years or so. Not long enough to really understand it let alone make accurate predictions about it. It's more a matter of odds rather than certainties.
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