El Nino Returns for Winter
The Southern Pacific Ocean has been warming in recent weeks. The National Weather Service is predicting an El Nino weather pattern across much of the US over the next 3 to 6 months
What does El Niño mean for the exceptional drought in Colorado and other states?
Brad Rippey, USDA meteorologist.
"That leads to some fairly profound impacts across the United States. The odds are tilted for warmer weather across much of the northern and western United States.
But weather researchers say the El Nino is no guarantee that more rain and snow will come to the parched Southwest.
El Niño-produced rainfall could relieve parched conditions in many parts of the drought-stricken state , but how much relief the region experiences depends upon the strength of this year's El Nino pattern. Experts say it appears to be a weaker system than the El Nino that formed over the area in 2015 and '16.
And they add higher-than-average precipitation in the region is not likely to make up for all of the rainfall deficits over the past year.
