LOVELOCK - The latest conversational topic for many people in the area and across the state is, "When are we going to get some snow?" I hope that by the time this article hits the paper we will have already received some precipitation.
So what is causing our latest weather pattern? Most people have heard of El Niño and La Niña, but what are these weather terms and how do they affect us? El Niño (Spanish for "the little boy") and La Niña (Spanish for "the girl") are extreme phases of a naturally occurring climate cycle. Both terms refer to large-scale changes in sea-surface temperature across the eastern tropical Pacific. Usually, sea-surface readings off South America's west coast range from the 60s to 70s F, while they exceed 80 degrees F in the "warm pool" located in the central and western Pacific. This warm pool expands to cover the tropics during El Niño, but during La Niña, the easterly trade winds strengthen and cold upwelling along the equator and the West coast of South America intensifies. Sea-surface temperatures along the equator can fall as much as 7 degrees F below normal.
Both El Niño and La Niña impact global and U.S. climate patterns. In many locations, especially in the tropics, La Niña (or cold episodes) produces the opposite climate variations from El Niño. For instance, parts of Australia and Indonesia are prone to drought during El Niño, but are typically wetter than normal during La Niña.
We are currently experience a La Niña weather pattern. La Niña often features drier than normal conditions in the Southwest in late summer through the subsequent winter. Drier than normal conditions also typically occur in the Central Plains in the fall and in the Southeast in the winter. In contrast, the Pacific Northwest is more likely to be wetter than normal in the late fall and early winter with the presence of a well-established La Niña. Additionally, on average La Niña winters are warmer than normal in the Southeast and colder than normal in the Northwest. La Niña conditions typically last approximately 9 - 12 months. Some episodes may persist for as long as two years.
So, what does that mean here in northern Nevada? Since we are located between the Northern Pacific and Southwestern regions, it is possible that we could experience both the drier warmer weather of the Southwest or the wetter conditions of the Pacific Northwest. Currently, we are seeing the warmer drier weather of the Southwest region. However, there is still time for the pattern to switch to more precipitation for northern Nevada.
The good news is that most reservoirs are at high levels due to the amount of precipitation we received last year. The bad news is that the lack of precipitation presently being experienced may not replace evaporation losses this coming summer, and could lead to less water for irrigation this year.
For more information on these weather patterns, you can go to the following websites at the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center, http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/forecast.html and http://meteora.ucsd.edu/cnap/lanina_cnap.html.
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