(Image source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
BY SAMANTHA SUNNE
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La Nina, the phenomenon that’s caused much of the strange weather in the U.S. this year, is coming back for round dos this winter.
Experts say the return of La Nina will cause exceptional precipitation in the North and dryness in the South. This is bad news especially for some southern states, where a second La Nina means a continuation of record-level drought and wildfires, CNN reports.
SPOKESWOMAN: “The thing about this is they’ve been battling these blazes for over 290 days in a row.”
COOPER: “290 days in a row?”
SPOKESWOMAN: “That’s correct. That’s almost a year. It’s just, it’s hard to believe...”
La Nina creates a separation of dry and moist air that increases the chances of extreme weather like the drought in Texas. WIFR in Rockford, Illinois says unusual incidents like these might carry over into next year.
“Well you know, last winter with both the severe weather and the snow, it was a very, very busy one for us meteorologists. The La Nina that’s developing right now is already about as strong as last year’s, and it’s forcasted to become even stronger than last year’s. So it could be something to watch over the next couple months.”
La Nina has been blamed for many of the weather disasters this year, including floods in the Midwest and a tropical storm in Vermont.
Although it’s not unheard of, La Nina rarely occurs two years in a row. CBS explains how the phenomenon influences weather conditions in the U.S.
“La Nina occurs when water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, near the equator, dramatically cool. That’s what happened this past winter. The La Nina pushed the jet stream over the U.S. to the North and made regular weather patterns more extreme.”
Drought conditions are expected to worsen in the South, and for all other weather-battered areas of the U.S., no relief is in sight.
