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Friday, October 11, 2002
Look for good and bad effects from El Niņo
El Niņo is back, and that means the Northwest is in for drier and warmer-than-normal conditions this winter, a federal climate expert said yesterday.
"We want to make sure the public is aware that El Niņo has impacts that are both good and bad," said Wayne Higgins, who spoke at a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration regional workshop.
Higgins is with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs, Md.
On the plus side, El Niņo likely will mean fewer rain-soaked commutes for residents of Washington and Oregon.
But it will also likely mean drought-like conditions in the eastern portions of the two states, less snow for Cascade ski areas and more wind and rain than normal on the coasts, especially the southern Oregon coast, Higgins said.
The El Niņo weather phenomenon includes a warming of a large area of water in the tropical Pacific, a change that influences wind and weather patterns passing over the area and can have impacts worldwide.
Conrad Lautenbacher, the head of NOAA, said last month in Washington, D.C., that the El Niņo conditions that have persisted for months will be at moderate strength through the end of 2002 and into early 2003.
On the Northwest coast, residents could be buffeted by strong winds and heavy rain.
"You can get some windstorms during El Niņo, especially in the southern half of Oregon," Higgins said, and big storms could affect the entire Northwest coast.
Although the current El Niņo will influence winter weather in the Northwest, its effect will be less than the 1997-98 version.
"We have a moderate El Niņo at the present time," Higgins said.
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