El Niño could mean snow for Georgia this winter, but it’s not a sure thing

Editor’s note: This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WABE and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization. The Pacific Ocean is heating up — and while it’s a continent away, the impacts from El Niño are expected to reach Georgia. For the notoriously hot and humid Southeast, El Niño typically has two main effects: it gets wetter, and it can bring bouts of cold weather. That could mean snow for Georgia this winter – though there’s no guarantee. What is El Niño and what does it mean for Georgia? Warming sea surface temperatures off the coast of South America happen every three to five years, a natural phenomenon known as El Niño. It’s just a few extra degrees of heat that lasts for nine to 12 months, but it ends up injecting an extraordinary amount of extra energy into the sky. This year’s is already the strongest El Niño on record, and it might not even peak for another couple of months.

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