Monday March 20, 2023
ABC 10 —
La Niña is finally over after three years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This winter has not acted like a typical La Niña winter with California getting drenched, especially in Southern California where La Niña typically signals a drier than average winter.
In fact, Southern California has been so wet that the Southern California Water Board halted emergency conservation measures that were put in place last summer.
Climate models are nearly certain El Niño will develop later this summer or fall. California is typically wetter during El Niño conditions, although the signal becomes murkier from Sacramento northward.
Brad Coffey with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California wants to stress that just because the most severe restrictions have been lifted, it’s not a free pass to use water wastefully, especially since conditions along the Colorado River are still dire.