Just after mentioning (whining?) that there wasn’t much to talk about weather-wise, I take a couple of days off and we get two items of weather news.
First, the National Weather Service has put part of the area back into an “abnormally dry” classification. This is the lowest level of drought, with soil moisture dropping thanks to our typically hot summer weather and a relative lack of rain. Perhaps it’s a sign that we never really got rid of the last drought, and instead just temporarily alleviated it with our spring rainfall. The rest of the hot summer months will be key; if we can get more than just occasional spotty thunderstorms, we’ll stand a much better chance of holding off a return to full-fledged drought status…and possibly water restrictions for some.
Then there’s El Nino, a periodic warming of ocean water in the eastern Pacific. Meteorologists who study this phenomenon (in this case, El Ninoists?) have declared that we are now in an El Nino cycle. What does this mean for us? El Nino can reduce hurricane activity in the Atlantic…good news for many coastal residents, but a caution that while El Nino may lower the numbers, it does not remove the threat for strong tropical systems to develop…so all should stay alert this hurricane season. El Nino can also mean a general, increased storminess across the southern states. That could mean increased rain in the months ahead for us, and maybe we won’t have to worry about any long-term drought resurfacing.
A weak El Nino, and these effects may not be seen…a strong El Nino would mean a greater likelihood of these general weather pattern shifts. A typical El Nino will last close to a year, so we have several months to see how all of this is going to play out…and whether “El Nino” and “drought over” will be related terms for us.
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