California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
For months, Californians have been hearing about the severe impact El Nino is going to have on the state and the nation. NASA has begun studying El Nino, predicting that the powerful storm will bring more rain than snow and slightly offset the severe impacts the California drought has had throughout the region. The risk of wildfires and greenhouse gases are expected to decrease.
“What we learned is weak El Niños don’t necessarily change the odds of precipitation being much different from normal,” said Mark Hoerling, a research meteorologist. “The rare occurrence of a strong El Niño, like what we’re currently experiencing, however, greatly increases the odds of a wet California winter.”
Although El Nino is expected to help the western United States, the powerful storm can also cause significant damage in South America and Eastern Asia. Those areas of the world tend to see less rainfall while El Ninowipes its way across the west coast. The lack of rainfall in those unusually dry areas makes them more prone to fires.
