SEE GIF SHOWING DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 1997 AND 2015 EL NIÑO
Stronger than 1997? This gif (above) shows above-average sea surface temperature in red
Is a GODZILLA El Niño coming for California this winter? Latest forecast suggest weather event
WILL hit the West coast... and it will be the biggest since records began
- Now all forecasts show above 90% probability of strong El Niño this year
- It even looks set to smash records, according to NOAA Climate Center
- But it still won't be enough to atone for 4 years of record-breaking drought
- In fact, the dry cracked land will struggle to withstand three-month storm
California will be hit by the biggest El Niño on record this winter, according to the latest forecast. Dubbed the 'Godzilla El Niño' or 'Bruce Lee El Niño', the weather event looks set to bring more rain and tropical cyclones to the Pacific Southwest since records began in 1950.
But analysts warn it still won't be enough to atone for four years of record-breaking droughts. In fact, the dry and cracked land will be hard-pushed to withstand the three-month storm, meaning there will likely be an onslaught of mudslides and floods.
The latest forecast comes after months of warnings that an El Niño will very likely hit the West Coast this year. Now, every outlook shows a more than 90 per cent chance it is coming - and it's going to be big.
It dismisses suggestions that other factors - such as the 'warm blob' in the North Pacific and the apparent shift in the Pacific Decadal Oscillation - could hamper the storm.
Conditions in the Pacific are already more turbulent this summer than they were at this time in 1997, when America experienced one of the most intense El Niños in recent years.
'If this lives up to its potential, this thing can bring a lot of floods, mudslides and mayhem,' said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
'This definitely has the potential of being the Godzilla El Niño.'
The brunt of the storm is expected to hit in late fall or early winter, according to a report released on Thursday.
There is a 90 per cent chance a strong El Niño will hit California and an 85 per cent chance it will last until spring 2016, according to the NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.
It means a probable surge in hurricanes on the Pacific coast, and a below-average hurricane season in the Atlantic, between November 2015 and April 2016.
However, scientists writing on the NOAA climate blog have been quick to emphasize that the effects of strong El Niño storms in the past have not been consistent.
Though rainfall in the Pacific Northwest climbed to 12 inches during the intense 1982-3 El Niño, the entire country was left uncharacteristically dry during a similarly intense storm in 1965.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3196963/Is-GODZILLA-El-Ni-o-coming-California-winter-Latest-forecast-suggest-weather-event-hit-West-coast-biggest-records-began.html#ixzz3ijMOHaNg[/center]
