Were in for some Wintry Weather

Asmita Kadam
Have you taken a look at the weather forecast lately? Its getting a bit chilly. What
about the WINTER weather forecast? Its getting really cold! This year meteorologists are
predicting a cold, cold winter, at least for the East Coast. The East Coast and some of the
South is expected to have lower than normal temperatures. Although up North, they are
expecting to have higher than average temperatures. In Washington, Idaho, Montana, and
Oregon, they are expecting much higher than average temperatures. Most of this is because
of El Nio, El Nio is expected to play a big role this winter from December 2015 - January
2016. For those who dont know what El Nio is, it is a change in the climate that occurs
every couple of years and affects the Pacific Region and beyond that. It usually occurs in
December and it now refers to sea temperature changes as well as global weather changes
like droughts, floods, and mudslides. There are many other changes in many other different
parts of the world, although, there is one change that is talking specifically to us --- cold
weather!
"The strength and location or 'flavor' of the El Nio event suggests that a very warm
1982-83 or 1997-98 winter is quite possible," said Dr. Todd Crawford, WSI chief
meteorologist. "However, there is some risk of big blocking this winter, driven either by a
premature weakening and westward shift (towards the dateline) of the El Nio impacts or by
just a general tendency for stronger high-latitude blocking. While this blocking potential
does add colder risks for the upcoming winter, we are still leaning towards a slightly cooler
variation of the very warm 1982 and 1997 strong Nio events." From what Dr. Todd Crawford
said you can see that we may be in for some warm weather towards the beginning, but
things are going to start getting cold later on. So make sure you are ready for whats coming
our way by staying warm and indoors. Also be sure to be on the lookout for any signs of El
Nio heading our way!