Friday, July 10, 2009
Weather columnist Kevin Myatt: The verdict is in: El Nino heating up the Pacific
Kevin Myatt is The Roanoke Times' weather columnist.
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Two weeks ago, I wrote here that El Nino was raring to go. Now, scientists say it is off and running.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared Thursday that El Nino has begun.
El Nino refers to the irregularly recurring warming of central Pacific sea surface temperatures, a phenomenon linked to a variety of climatic changes around the world.
Scientists noted sea surface temperatures 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal in the eastern Pacific, according to a NOAA news release. The El Nino is expected to intensify through the fall and winter months.
The first commonly noticeable effect of an El Nino for the United States is that, typically, fewer hurricanes than normal develop in the Atlantic. This is because more storminess in the Pacific tends to increase high-level winds over the Atlantic, shearing the tops off potential tropical systems.
This doesn't mean that U.S. coasts are entirely safe from hurricanes. It only takes one monster to make the entire season infamous.
Later in the fall, it is common for a wet conveyor belt of storm systems to develop across the southern U.S. More often than not, Southwest Virginia gets increased rainfall as a result of El Nino, and can get bonus snowfall if other factors push cold air into the region in the winter.
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