El Niño ramping up; warming could be big hit to snowpack

The current El Niño far exceeds the “very strong” threshold and likely will have the staying power to be the strongest on record, the National Weather Service reported Nov. 12. The latest readings show the sea-surface temperatures along the equator in the central Pacific was 2.5 degrees Celsius higher than normal, according to the weather service’s Climate Prediction Center. If sustained, the temperature would be the highest on record for late fall and early winter. Temperatures 2 degrees above normal trigger a very strong El Niño. Forecasters expect El Niño to warm winter temperatures and dampen snowpacks in the Northwest. During past very strong El Niños, Oregon’s winter temperatures averaged 1 degree Fahrenheit above normal, but that was enough to raise snow levels by 500 to 1,000 feet, Oregon State Climatologist Larry O’Neill said. “That could be really significant,” he said.

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