The cycle begins when warm water in the western tropical Pacific.
It’s too big to fail,” said Bill Patzert, climatologist for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Ca. Sign up to get the free newsletter > > Just three weeks ago, the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center raised the odds of California getting doused with a wetter- than- average winter. Southern California now has more than a 6. The odds of a wet winter farther north are increasing too. San Francisco has more than a 4.
Scientists know that El Ni. That should strengthen this El Ni. It’s certainly still a strong event,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the Climate Prediction Center. Halpert said this El Ni. Probably the second strongest we’ve seen at this time of year.”“We certainly favor a wetter- than- average winter,” Halpert said. Though he cautioned that “when you’re dealing with climate predictions, you can never get a guarantee,” he added, “this could be one of the types of winters like in 1. That winter was dramatic for California.
This winter's El Nino could be one of the strongest in the past 50 years, leading to a return of meaningful but not necessarily drought-busting rain in California. If El Nino is a difference between average ocean temperatures and the SST at particular place/time, then as ocean temperatures rise in response to global warming the. The ENSO cycle is a scientific term that describes the.
Heavy rains came to Orange County in December 1. Huntington Beach and forcing crews to use inflatable boats to make rescues, while mudslides destroyed hillside homes. See the most- read stories this hour > > El Ni. Two California Highway Patrol officers died in San Luis Obispo County after their car fell into a massive sinkhole, and devastating mudslides plowed into hillside homes in Laguna Beach, killing residents. More than half a billion dollars in damage was reported in California, and 1. El Ni. Halpert said the 1.
El Ni. But there was warning about the 1. El Ni. Our new normal.”Follow me on Twitter for more news on El Nino: @ronlin.
El Nino has an 80 percent chance of lasting into spring 2016, according to the latest update from NOAA.
![El Nino [2000] El Nino [2000]](http://scijinks.jpl.nasa.gov/review/el-nino/El-Nino-map-el-nino.jpg)
Even the largest El Ni Americans may associate El Nino with heavy rains. But in Southern and Eastern Africa, it's the cause of a terrible drought.
MORE ON EL NINO: Skiers, resorts cast hopeful eye toward El Ni.