More bad news for Texas: La Niña is back

[phantom power]

La Niña, which contributed to extreme weather around the globe during the first half of 2011, has re-emerged in the tropical Pacific Ocean and is forecast to gradually strengthen and continue into winter, NOAA announced yesterday. Over the past two weeks, ocean temperatures have cooled significantly in the Equatorial Pacific off the coast of South America. Ocean temperatures in the region 120°W - 170°W and 5°S - 5°N, called the Niño 3.4 region, were 0.6°C cooler than average over the first week of September. The threshold for a weak La Niña is temperatures 0.5° cooler than average, so we are now experiencing weak La Niña conditions.

Drought conditions are common over the southern tier of states during a La Niña event, since the cooling of the equatorial Pacific waters usually pushes the jet stream such that rain-bearing low pressure systems pass through the Midwest and avoid the South.

It is likely that the drought gripping Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico will continue well into 2012, due to the emergence of La Niña. La Niña events also typically cause wetter than normal winters in the Pacific Northwest and Ohio Valley, colder winters in the Pacific Northwest and northern Plains, and warmer temperatures in the southern states.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1923

[Peregrine]

1. Bad news for Florida too

el nino is what helped decapitate the huricanes.

[Denninmi]

2. Not so great here in the Great Lakes, either.

La Nina years tend to bring us messy winters and cold, late springs.

[xchrom]

3. Recommend

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Bad news all around, actually.

[dtexdem]

5. Hey, look at the good news -- Texas beat out Oklahoma.

Just edged them for the hottest summer statewide on record.

[4dsc]

6. I guess GOD doesn't like Rick Perry after all.. nt

[Odin2005]

7. Dust Bowl 2.0, Depression 2.0.

[Javaman]

8. Yayyyy!!!

My backyard already looks like Death Valley. Dust storms here they come. Oh and don't forget more fires.

naaaa, no climate change here.

[Jack2632]

9. Unending

it feels like there's always something going on - El Nino, La Nina. Let's just quit calling them than and just say sometimes there weather is good, sometimes the weather is bad, but there's nothing we can do to change it so we just have to prepare for it.