La Nina is back…but don’t celebrate just yet. As of early August 2011, weather patterns have given meteorologists with NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) enough evidence to predict some form of La Nina to reveal herself in the upcoming winter season. It is too early to estimate the intensity of La Nina’s effects. Last season, the weather pattern caused cooler than normal temperatures and heavy snowfall that kept mountain resorts open into July and August. La Nina also contributed to the sever drought experienced in the lower Southern states of the US.
Tahoe received a whopping 600+ inches of snow last season thanks to La Nina...that's over 50 feet people!
La Nina has an overall cooling effect on global temperatures, and tends to come in two-year increments-the 2011/2012-winter season claiming “year two” in the La Nina time-line. According to NOAA, La Nina is a cooling of sea-surface temperatures in the tropical areas of the world’s largest body of water-the Pacific Ocean. Rightfully so, cooling temperatures in the Pacific Ocean will have a fairly dramatic ripple effect on the global weather patterns.
As of now, NOAA predicts La Nina will cause cooler than normal temperatures in the Pacific Northwest along with higher than normal precipitation rates in the area. The cold temperatures will reach the Northern Plains of the US, while warmer than average temperatures will elongate the drought in the Deep South. However, La Nina is not expected to hit those areas until late September as Fall approaches.
Meteorologists will have a better understanding of La Nina’s wrath come October or November as winter draws near. Until then, continue to pray to the snow gods for another winter of epic proportions.
