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What The Return Of La Niña Means For Our Current Drought Conditions (Hint: Nothing Good)
Winter time La Niña pattern.
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Courtest NOAA Climate
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It’s just about time to say, “Welcome back!” to La Niña for the second year in a row.
There’s an 87% chance that the climate pattern will be with us between December and February, according to a new alert issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Typically, La Niña is associated with drier conditions in the Southern part of the U.S., including in central and Southern California.
Though dryness is not guaranteed, given we’re in the second year of a terrible drought, anything that may keep us from sweet sweet precipitation isn’t great.
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California, on statewide basis, is now experiencing its worst drought in observational record going back to late 1800s--narrowly beating out peak of last drought in 2014-15 (as measured by PDSI, a metric that takes into account both precip & temperature). #CAwx #CAfire #CAwater pic.twitter.com/PHgOZEUWgb
— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) October 13, 2021
Back-to-back La Niña years are not uncommon, and the second year can often be associated with stronger drought conditions.
Last year, fires were a concern until late January when we received one of only a few decent showings of rain for the year.
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