10/05/06 El Nino forming

It's a pool of warm water. It's normally in the western Pacific from Tahiti to Australia toward the Philippines. For some unexplained reason that pool of warm water moves eastward, through the tropics and along the equator toward Peru. Ron Abromovich of the NRCS says when that warm water replaces the normally cool Peru current an El Nino condition forms and its means potentially more rain for some parts of the US. ABROMOVICH "Storm pattern typically goes through southern California and into the desert Southwest, the Four Corners area." Normally El Nino means less moisture for Idaho and the Pacific Northwest. Abromovich says usually El Nino forms as early as May or June but this year it was different. ABROMOVICH "With El Nino just now developing in September that's halfway through the typical period that correlates with our future weather. So we're not quite sure what the full impacts will be yet on El Nino in Idaho this year." An Idaho Climate Impact meeting will be held in Boise in a couple of weeks and Abromovich says many experts will be there. He's hoping to have a better feel for what impact if any El Nino will have on the overall rain and snowfall in Idaho over the next six months. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott