el nino

[Mark Walker]

Andrea wrote:


>How much the el nino effects our world climate is also not really
>known, I guess. Is it really unusually warm in the US this year? Or
>do we just feel like it is?

Andrea,

Your questions are very interesting, and the results of the South American
studies you refer to are fascinating.  It certainly wouldn't be the first
time we humans have become falsely mezmerized by self-appointed wisdom.
Indeed, there has been an unprecedented barrage of _El_Nino_ reporting this
year (compared to similar weather patterns of the past), perhaps because of
satellite-enabled media coverage.  Whether the weather people have it right
or not, I cannot say (not being a meteorologist), but...

Weather systems like the current one pounding the western coast of the U.S.
have been a periodic phenomenon that I have witnessed several times in my 39
years.  There is nothing typical about them, other than that they do occur
every 10 years or so (perhaps with increasing frequency).  They are
characterized by heavy rain and heavy surf, usually destroying beaches and
taking out piers and beachfront homes (in 1983 we lost dozens of piers).
They usually coincide with warmer ocean temperatures off the coast of
California and an outstanding fishing season.  California counts on them to
get through the more typical arid seasons which periodically create serious
drought conditions.  We commonly had rainy seasons, but there is a clear
distinction between a typical rainy season and what they are enduring now.
How and whether these systems affect weather in other parts of the world I
do not know (although they said it would produce ice in the East, and ice is
what we got).

Don't know if this helps, but my input is that whatever you call it, it's
not simply an exaggeration of a normal winter season.

Mark Walker.