El Niño is Here

In case you haven’t heard, it’s an El Niño year. And, according to climate scientists, it’s likely to be a strong-to-very strong one, or — as it has already colloquially been dubbed — a “Super El Niño.” “Chances remain high for a historic event that would exceed the strength of previous El Niño events dating back to 1950,” according to an October update from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center. So how will the North Coast be impacted? Well, that remains to be seen. Signs are pointing to a wetter and warmer winter than normal, especially on the January, February and March timeline, but those are called predictions for a reason. It is, literally, all up in the air. Backing up a little bit, El Niño is not a particular storm but a normally occurring climate pattern that happens every two to seven years and can impact weather across the globe in different ways — some places will typically see more rain while other areas are drier.

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