Forecast predicts El Niño conditions throughout the winter months

“(It’s) the abnormal warming of the surface water right along the equator in the Pacific Ocean,” he said. “It’s a change in wind direction (is why it warms up), we typically see more westerly winds than easterly winds in that region, so that causes warmer water to come to the surface and up into the upper atmosphere. That alters the jet stream pattern across the Pacific Ocean. In a normal year, we typically see one strong jet stream coming across Western Canada.”

The AccuWeather prediction also talked about the snowfall, and what to expect with the precipitation for the winter months. Anderson said it may be tough on ski hills, and stabilizing the overall snowfall. He did note that a generalization of the snowfall across the prairies is tough to predict, as it could change with one large storm, or one large dump of snow on the region.

“Trying to predict how much snow in a seasonal forecast is almost impossible because it only takes one big storm (to change that),” he said. “Overall, based on the pattern, we are expecting less snowy days compared to normal with this type of pattern expected to take hold. We’ll see our best chance of establishing snow early in the season, because the El Niño is still not fully developed. Once we get to January and February, the pattern will resemble more of an El Niño pattern. That means dryer, windier conditions.”

Anderson did mention on an Agricultural economic standpoint, the snowfall isn’t the best indicator when it comes to the actual precipitation that the ground soaks up. Snow doesn’t carry much water within its actual composition, which means it won’t have much impact on the dry conditions producers faced in the previous months.

brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangCJNB

by Brady Lang

Forecast predicts El Niño conditions throughout the winter months

What's Trending