As we head into the spring season, it is always a good idea to get a forecast on how the next couple of months are expected to pan out. Therefore, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) issued in February the first La Nina advisory under its new El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Alert System. Forecasters expect La Nina to influence weather patterns across the United States during the remainder of the winter and into the early spring.
La Nina is defined as cooler than normal sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. La Nina impacts the weather globally. La Nina’s opposite is El Nino. El Nino is warmer than normal ocean temperatures. These changes in ocean temperatures alter the wind and rainfall patterns across the world.
La Nina conditions have been present since late December. CPC officials say it is too early to say exactly how strong the event will be and precisely how long it will last. However, for the next few months La Nina is expected to bring milder and drier than average conditions to the southeastern and southwestern states. Louisiana would fall in this category; therefore, expect a dry and very warm spring very similar to last year as we also experienced La Nina conditions in 2008. It is also expected to bring wetter-than-average conditions to the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, plus cooler than average temperatures to the Pacific Northwest.
La Nina conditions have been present since late December. CPC officials say it is too early to say exactly how strong the event will be and precisely how long it will last. However, for the next few months La Nina is expected to bring milder and drier than average conditions to the southeastern and southwestern states. Louisiana would fall in this category; therefore, expect a dry and very warm spring very similar to last year as we also experienced La Nina conditions in 2008. It is also expected to bring wetter-than-average conditions to the Ohio and Tennessee valleys, plus cooler than average temperatures to the Pacific Northwest.
The next Climate Prediction Center will take place this Thursday for the 2009 spring season.
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