LOS ANGELES — La Nina has arrived and could hang around through winter, government weather forecasters said Thursday.
La Nina, the flip side of El Nino, is the periodic cooling of the central Pacific Ocean that affects weather patterns around the globe. Predictions called for fleeting La Nina conditions that could last through February.
It’s “anticipated to be a weak, short-lived event,” said Mike Halpert of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.
In the United States, the arrival of La Nina usually brings wetter winters to the northern Rockies, Pacific Northwest and Ohio Valley and warmer, drier conditions to southern parts.
There’s a 55 percent chance La Nina will stick around through winter, causing the drought to persist in Southern California and regions in the Southeast and southern Plains to experience dry conditions, NOAA said.
After five years of withering drought, parts of California have recovered thanks to October storms that doused the northern part of the state. Three-quarters of California remain in drought.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.