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Longer and stronger El Nino predicted

 

Government forecasters are predicting a stronger and longer El Nino weather event.

The U.S. Climate Prediction Center (CPC) projects a more than 90 percent chance that El Nino will continue through this winter. And there’s an 80 percent likelihood it will last into early spring in the Northern Hemisphere.

CPC meteorologist Tom Diliberto tells Brownfield that could mean increased precipitation this winter across the southern U.S.

“Meanwhile, when we get across the Northern Plains, you could expect to see, maybe the further north you go, a chance for there being above-average temperatures,” Diliberto says, “and then when you get a little further off, into Tennessee and Kentucky—and maybe Illinois and Indiana—you could see wetter conditions in those locations.”

It could also bring some drought relief to California.

“At least for some parts of California, we do see a tilt in the odds towards there being above-average precipitation,” Diliberto says.

A stronger El Nino does not bode well for agriculture in other parts of the world, particularly parts of Asia and Australia, which could experience much hotter and drier conditions.

El Nino is the warming of Pacific sea-surface temperatures.

AUDIO: Tom Diliberto