WSU sees rumblings of El Nino

SANDPOINT — Signs are growing that a disruption is brewing in the Pacific Ocean that could impact the region’s upcoming winter, according to Washington State University.

El Nino is likely coming back, said meteorologist Nic Loyd of the university’s AgWeatherNet.

The climate phenomenon is triggered by periodic warming of ocean water in the tropical Pacific and influences weather that varies by regions throughout the world.

“A strong El Nino in the U.S. typically brings warmer than average winters to the Pacific Northwest, lots of rain to California and cool, stormy conditions to the southern-tier states,” he said.

Scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently announced a 70-percent chance of El Nino conditions from December through February – an increase from 64-percent predicted only a month earlier.

“Should an El Nino emerge, the Pacific Northwest could see warmer than normal temperatures and less snow at lowland levels and in the mountains,” Loyd explained.

In winter 2015-16, one of the strongest El Ninos on record threw the region off balance by causing unusually warm weather and a low mountain snowpack that contributed to drought conditions the following summer.

There’s no way to know for certain if the now-developing El Nino will ultimately turn into a monster or a shrimp. El Nino is but one factor in a complex global weather machine, he said.