El Niño has brought area plenty of moisture

Since early November much of the Pacific Northwest, including the Inland Northwest, has received lots of moisture thanks in part to the warm El Niño in the south-central Pacific Ocean.

Despite the 4 1/2 months of extremely dry weather in the late spring and summer months, Spokane, the Spokane Valley and Coeur d’Alene area, along with many other places in the Northwest, will finish this year with total precipitation amounts well above normal levels.

El Niño is the abnormal warming of sea-surface temperatures along the equatorial regions that alter global weather patterns. The latest sea-surface temperature pattern still indicates an area of warmer than normal readings along the west coast of South America and along the equatorial regions. Last month, this El Niño was declared “moderate.” But, this warm-water phenomenon has not behaved like typical El Niños.

For example, many Southern Californians are asking, “where is all the rain?” Much of the Pacific moisture has been falling across our region southward into Northern California, leaving much of Southern California on the drier side.

As a result, there has been very little snow in the higher mountains in the southern portion of that state. During typical El Niño events, many storms often head south of us into California leaving us with what’s left over. Although we do expect some of this moisture to head into that region in early 2007, it’s not going to be as wet like previous El Niño events.

Approximately 30 percent of the time, Pacific storms will trail into the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada rather than to the south during an El Niño. This happens to be one of those years. And, our average late fall and winter temperatures are often milder than normal as many of our recent storms have been on the line between rain and snow in the lower elevations.

This new El Niño pattern also has changed weather patterns across the country. Last spring and summer, the southern Great Plains suffered through its worst drought since the infamous Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. Over the last month, we’ve seen some drought relief in that part of the world. A major blizzard has already hit the Rockies and parts of the Great Plains. Mountain snow has been plentiful in the Rockies and especially in the northwestern United States.

But, in the northeastern United States, the ski season thus far has been considered a bust as most of the moisture has fallen as rain. Prior to the Christmas holidays, Lake Placid, N.Y., a prime area for skiing, reported highs in the 50s.

In our region, there has been plenty of snow in the mountains for great skiing and snowboarding. Up to 4 to 8 feet of snow is now being reported at higher tops.

It now appears that El Niño may have peaked. Sea-surface temperatures off the west coast of South America are beginning to cool down. This region is typically a good indication of where this warm water phenomenon is heading. However, El Niño should still be with us during the rest of the winter season, perhaps extending well into spring.

Despite the warm water event in the Pacific Ocean, I still believe that January will become both our snowiest and coldest month. This means we’ll also have a lot more snow in mountains, which will probably extend our ski season well into the spring.

February should turn dry again as it’s been for the last several years. Only scattered, quickly-melting snows will fall across the area lowlands in March and early April. Then, I see another in a long series of wet and cool spring seasons.