Tuesday February 13, 2024
Los Angeles Times —
The powerful El Niño pattern that brought wet weather and deadly storms to California this winter may finally be weakening, forecasters have said. But our weather weirdness could get even weirder later this year.
Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say the odds are increasing that La Niña will develop in the Pacific sometime this summer. The weather pattern is associated with cooler, drier conditions.
It all starts in the tropical Pacific, where winds pushing hot water toward Asia cause the jet stream over North America to shift north. That means less moisture, and the moisture that does come arrives in the Pacific Northwest, more than in California.
“Even though forecasts made through the spring season tend to be less reliable, there is a historical tendency for La Niña to follow strong El Niño events,” forecasters wrote in an advisory last week.