![\"El](\"http:\/\/seagrant.oregonstate.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/sgpubs\/images\/g-97-008-el-nino-250.jpg?1317748135\")
A developing El Ni\u00f1o pattern is likely to bring higher temperatures – and less snow – to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest this winter, according to scientists at the OSU-based Oregon Climate Service.<\/p>\nA developing El Ni\u00f1o pattern is likely to bring higher temperatures – and less snow – to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest this winter, according to scientists at the OSU-based Oregon Climate Service.<\/p>\n
Kathie Dello, the OCC’s deputy director said this year’s El Ni\u00f1o will likely be \u201cmoderate.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere we really see the signal is in the temperature,\u201d Dello said. \u201cSo, that\u2019s bad for skiers because the temperature needs to be cool enough for the precipitation to fall as snow.\u201d<\/p>\n
The past two winters were categorized as La Ni\u00f1as (lower temperatures, more precipitation) in the Northwest, and the Cascades received a significant amount of snow, setting winter snowfall records at popular mountain ski slopes. Mount\u00a0 Bachelor was hit with so much snow at one pointthis past January that the ski area had to shut down for a day.<\/p>\n
Dello said it 2012 saw one of the driest Decembers on record for the Northwest. \u201cDecember was rough last year because everyone expected all this snow \u2013 skiers love La Ni\u00f1a,\u201d Dello said. \u201cIt was happening, it just wasn\u2019t happening the way we like it in the Northwest.\u201d<\/p>\n
The El Ni\u00f1o predicted for this year is expected to be in effect for the next three months, said Dello, citing forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s Climate Prediction Center. That means the weather could change later in the winter.<\/p>\n
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A developing El Ni\u00f1o pattern is likely to bring higher temperatures – and less snow – to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest this winter, according to scientists at the OSU-based Oregon Climate Service. Kathie Dello, the OCC’s deputy director said … Continue reading