Very strong El Niño + record warm Pacific = wild California winter, predicts Daniel Swain
From the California Weather Blog:
“There continues to be much conversation surrounding the relative lack of major storms in California so far this autumn. Precipitation so far this season has been somewhat below average across the more populated coastal parts of the state, although very early Sierra Nevada snowpack numbers are actually looking pretty good at the moment. Temperatures have (finally!) cooled from their record-shattering October values, and have been fairly close to average over the past couple of weeks.
Recent modest rains and cooler temperatures, though, have so far done little to mitigate California’s worst drought on record. Iconic drought-related milestones are still being reached, from Folsom Lake’s all-time record low level to the recent discovery that as many as 20% of California’s trees could eventually die as a result of the drought and bark beetle stresses already experienced.
Should we be worried that California has yet to experience an epic deluge so far this fall? What happened to the ostensible “parade of storms” that is so often talked about in the context of major El Niño events? I would argue that the most appropriate answers to these questions are “no” and “it’s coming,” respectively. … ”
Continue reading at the California Weather Blog by clicking here.
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