A recent study by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society and the Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, says that this year’s El Nino has a 70 per cent chance of making a significant impact on world weather. So, while the entire world is dreading the approach of El-Nino why is California hoping for its arrival.
Well it’s a known fact that El-Nino alters precipitation patterns across the globe and that this time it may lead to a drier monsoon in India. But weathermen in U.S claim that El-Nino could produce wetter weather in the southern United States, bringing rain to drought stricken California.
“We explained earlier that El-Nino – a warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific, affects wind patterns and can trigger both floods and drought in different parts of the globe. Typically, El-Nino brings drier weather to the western Pacific, in places such as Australia, India and Indonesia, and wetter weather to the America”, says G.P Sharma, of Skymet Meteorology Division in India.
Currently, Northern California is facing the third-driest winter in history and hopes for return of an El-Nino are rather high. Historically too, El Nino in California has been associated with the state's highest rains of over 47 inches, in 1997-98 and 1982-83, which brought fatal mudslides to the Santa Cruz Mountains and Southern California coast.
However, the effects of El-Nino are complex. While it can mean increased rainfall in California, there were instances in 60s and early 90s, when two strong El Ninos actually brought less than average rainfall to the state.
Chances of heavy rains in California due to El-Nino, may replenish the soil and prevent wildfires, quench the thirst of parched hills and refill shallow reservoirs.
But while El-Nino boosts the odds of rain, it provides no guarantees, especially if the ocean warming isn't extreme.
Photo by arumsekaartaji.
