NASA examines the effects of this year's El Ni帽o
Researchers at NASA are examining the weather trends of this year鈥檚 El Ni帽o warming pattern to determine how it may affect weather patterns across the United States, including drought levels in California.
鈥淣ASA is at the forefront in and advancing our understanding of its role in shaping Earth鈥檚 weather and climate patterns,鈥� Duane Waliser, chief scientist of the Earth Science and Technology Directorate at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., said in a statement.
El Ni帽o is an annual weather event typically characterized by unusually warm temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. Meteorologists and researchers believe that this year鈥檚 El Ni帽o is on track to equal or even rival the El Ni帽o weather event of 1997-98, in which聽聽slammed the West Coast with rain.
One of the most important developments the researchers are tracking is what impact, if any, El Ni帽o will have on the drought in California, which is now entering its fifth year. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the California Department of Water would need to bring 60 inches more rain over the average, and provide 39 inches of snow water content, in order to help bring California into drought recovery.
Initial satellite observations from NASA appear to indicate that the , or narrow corridors of concentrated moisture, that occur during El Ni帽o may provide some relief from the drought. Atmospheric rivers are typically responsible for the patterns of extreme rainfall and flooding that occur in the mid-latitude, westerly coastal regions of the world, like the west coasts of North America, Europe, and Africa.
But experts predict that while El Ni帽o may help alleviate the symptoms of the drought, it will not help eliminate the problem completely. They point to the fact that while El Ni帽o does tend to bring higher-than-average levels of rainfall, .
"Over a 25-year period, over the long term, El Ni帽o provides only 7% of our water. So as much as we鈥檙e hyping it, it鈥檚 not a big player," Bill Patzert, a climatologist with NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Ca帽ada Flintridge, told the Los Angeles Times. "It鈥檚 fast and furious, but it鈥檚 too irregular 鈥� the gap between El Ni帽os is too long to [point to it as a] drought-buster.鈥�
