What Super El Niño Means
From the Western Ag Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. You’ve undoubtedly heard the reports or warning that we’ve now shifted into a Super El Niño situation after four years of declared drought.
Cliff Mass, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington, says El Niño tends to mean warmer and drier conditions, so less rain and less snowpack … But …
MASS … “The but is important here. Super El Niño, or very strong El Ninos, whatever you prefer to call it, they tend to be different. They tend to be ones where the precipitation is near normal, and the snowpack tends to be near normal. We sense that it’s still a little bit warmer than normal, but they’re different animals in terms of the implications for Washington state.”
But call it what you will, Mass says this year will be Super …
MASS … “Right now, it is clear, there is no doubt about it, that we’re going to be in a Super or very strong El Niño situation for the beginning of the winter. I mean, there’s no doubt about it now.”
And this, Mass says hasn’t happened very often here …
MASS … “We don’t have a large sample, right, we’ve only got three during the last, you know, 30-40 years. They tend to be ones which are not disastrous for us in terms of water supply or snowpack.”
So, Mass says bottom line …
MASS … “I think we’ve got to be really careful this year about assuming that it’s going to be the end of the world here in the Northwest.”
Again, that’s Cliff Mass, atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington.
