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La Nina has arrived, threatening even bigger blazes and storms
Boston: The extreme weather that has hammered California, Oregon and Washington state with runaway wildfires and hit Louisiana with its most powerful hurricane in 160 years may be about to get even worse.
La Nina — a phenomenon that occurs when the surface of the Pacific Ocean cools — has officially formed, the US Climate Prediction Centre said on Thursday, US time. It triggers an atmospheric chain reaction that stands to roil weather around the globe, often turning the western US into a tinder box, fuelling more powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic and flooding parts of Australia and South America.
"We're already in a bad position, and La Nina puts us in a situation where fire-weather conditions persist into November and possibly even December," said Ryan Truchelut, president of Weather Tiger, a forecasting service. "It is exacerbating existing heat and drought issues."
The effects are already evident. Rising temperatures and an extreme mega-drought across the US West are fuelling fires from Washington to Arizona. Oregon bore the brunt of nearly 100 major wildfires ripping across the western states and major loss of life was expected about several towns were destroyed. On Friday (AEST) the number of people under evacuation orders climbed to some 500,000, about an eighth of the state's total population. California is having its worst fire season on record and in the Atlantic a record number tropical storms have formed by September, including hurricane Laura, which killed more than a dozen people across the Caribbean and the US last month.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/la-nina-has-arrived-threatening-even-bigger-blazes-and-storms-20200911-p55uqp.html
La Nina — a phenomenon that occurs when the surface of the Pacific Ocean cools — has officially formed, the US Climate Prediction Centre said on Thursday, US time. It triggers an atmospheric chain reaction that stands to roil weather around the globe, often turning the western US into a tinder box, fuelling more powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic and flooding parts of Australia and South America.
"We're already in a bad position, and La Nina puts us in a situation where fire-weather conditions persist into November and possibly even December," said Ryan Truchelut, president of Weather Tiger, a forecasting service. "It is exacerbating existing heat and drought issues."
The effects are already evident. Rising temperatures and an extreme mega-drought across the US West are fuelling fires from Washington to Arizona. Oregon bore the brunt of nearly 100 major wildfires ripping across the western states and major loss of life was expected about several towns were destroyed. On Friday (AEST) the number of people under evacuation orders climbed to some 500,000, about an eighth of the state's total population. California is having its worst fire season on record and in the Atlantic a record number tropical storms have formed by September, including hurricane Laura, which killed more than a dozen people across the Caribbean and the US last month.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/la-nina-has-arrived-threatening-even-bigger-blazes-and-storms-20200911-p55uqp.html
I've been watching this on the Aussie Bureau of Meterology - La Niña generally means a wetter than average spring for us and the Bureau is predicting 70% probability.
To all those in the path of the fires, to those who lose their homes and possessions, for the animals and forests - I can only say my heart is truly weeping for you. Stay strong.
