West coast press etc: Maybe this year El Niño will kick the drought out
Last week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center tentatively declared how the tepid El Niño in the mid-Pacific might affect US rainfall. A drier Pacific Northwest, wetter Southern Tier all the way from Florida to the west and wrapping up along most of California, appear to be in the cards, it says.
At the San Diego Union-Tribune, whose region like much of the Southwest has been dry for several years, Robert Krier gets the story in a little late but long and illustrated. He also manfully hedges his bets and sticks more qualifiers in there than at an Indy race. The CPC is “sorta, kinda, maybe” saying it’ll rain and, just to make it clear, he warns “This is not the kind of surfire El Niño one can take to the bank, or even the corner ATM.” That is playful yet careful phrasing. He also is gathering up a bunch of opinions from locals, not very scientific most of them judging by examples he provides, but amusing. He’s offering a rain gauge to the best guesser of the ongoing season’s annual total precip when the season ends June 30, 2010. Today’s the deadline. I’m unsure if this prize is just a graduated beaker to put on the porch, or a fancy automated gauge that wirelessly transmits its data to one’s computer for easy watching.
Other stories:
- Santa Rosa Press Democrat – Mary Callahan: El Nino to bring wet winter to North Coast; Unless it does not. A few caveats are in the story itself, including in the quotes from experts.
- USA Today – Doyle Rice: Winter forecast: Warm northern tier; wet, cool South, Southeast;
- Orange County Register (ScienceDude blog) Gary Robbins: NOAA gives confusing winter forecast for O.C. ; Robbins is one of the best. He makes sure readers know that the important word is maybe.
- Gulf Coast Newspapers – Curt Chapman: We’ll soon be chillin’ on the Gulf Coast ; The hed was for the immediate forecast, but the longer range one is in the story too; the hed fits that as well.
- Baltimore Sun – Frank D. Roylance: El Nino expected to bring a colder Md. winter ; Roylance relies more heavily on the commercial AccuWeather forecast than NOAA’s.
- AP – Seth Borenstein: Winter forecast: Warmer West, North; cooler South;
Grist for the Mill: NOAA Climate Prediction Center Press Release ;
