[env-trinity] Contra Costa Times 12-23-10

[Byron Leydecker]

Forecasters: California should see drier winter

Contra Costa Times-12/23/10

 

Despite the weeklong rains deluging California, the Golden State should
experience a drier than average winter thanks to the La Nina climate
phenomenon, forecasters said Wednesday. 

 

Just because a series of pre-winter storms drenched the state "doesn't mean
the entire season is going to be like this," said Mike Halpert, deputy
director of the Climate Prediction Center, part of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. 

 

The NOAA center said California should be drying out in the first three
months of the new year. Its outlook is driven mostly by a strong La Nina in
the tropical Pacific. The phenomenon is marked by a cooling of the tropical
Pacific Ocean, which usually means drier than normal winter conditions in
California and the Southwest. 

 

There are other factors besides La Nina that affect local weather. The
latest storm system was caused by cold polar air clashing with warm, moist
air to create the wild weather, said Bill Patzert of the NASA Jet Propulsion
Laboratory. 

 

"Even though La Nina is very strong, what's really dominating the weather is
the Arctic Oscillation in the short term," Patzert said. 

 

If La Nina remains strong as forecasters expect, California should see drier
conditions from January to March.

 

 

Byron Leydecker, JcT

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 land

415 519 4810 mobile

 <mailto:bwl3 at comcast.net> bwl3 at comcast.net

 <mailto:bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org> bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org
(secondary)

 <http://fotr.org/> http://www.fotr.org 

 

 

 

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