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Dina Freedman ReportingAcross the US we've seen record warm temperatures lately, and now it looks like more unusual weather might be on the way. You heard right, not El Nino, the opposite, La Nina. It's changes in the pacific ocean water that influence the weather around the world.
Signs that the weather in Utah has been on the warm side include melting snow and people walking around without hats or gloves.
With 2005 being the warmest year ever recorded across the globe, now we've got La Nina. What does that mean for 2006? La Nina is a cooling in the east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean, meaning sea surface temperatures have dropped to below average readings.
Dr. John Horel, Dept. of Meteorology, U of U: "This is the first La Nina we've experienced since the late 90's, 1998-1999."
When this happens, the position of the jet stream moves and changes weather around the world.
Dr. John Horel: "We're in a, sort of an in between area. The places that have a real big response to La Nina are in the western United States, northwest, Cascades, that area."
In Utah the changes we may see this year will be small ones, but still important. In the winter, average La Nina years for Salt Lake and Cedar City have slightly more moisture, while Blanding remains dry. Temperatures, though, look to not have any significant changes during La Nina years in Utah.
Dr. John Horel: "La Nina is just like stacking a deck of cards, it kind of changes the probabilities a bit. Any individual weather event is kind of driven by other factors. There's not a lot of skill in prediction beyond about a week to 10 days."
Predicting our weather patterns for the months ahead is tricky, we'll have to wait and see if this La Nina does bring us a dry spring as it has in years past. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, La Nina events can actually favor increased hurricane activity in the Atlantic. But right now, it's just too early to tell how much it will influence the 2006 season.
