Oz Report

The Babies (from issue 10.191)

Someone to bleed on

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2006/s2699.htm

Sept.  13, 2006 — Scientists at the NOAA Climate Prediction Center reported today that El Niño conditions have developed in the tropical Pacific and are likely to continue into early 2007.  Ocean temperatures increased remarkably in the equatorial Pacific during the last two weeks.  "Currently, weak El Niño conditions exist, but there is a potential for this event to strengthen into a moderate event by winter,"

Also, the development of weak El Niño conditions helps explain why this Atlantic hurricane season has been less active than was previously expected.  El Niño typically acts to suppress hurricane activity by increasing the vertical wind shear over the Caribbean Sea region.  However, at this time the El Niño impacts on Atlantic hurricanes are small.

Typical El Niño effects are likely to develop over North America during the upcoming winter season.  Those include warmer-than-average temperatures over western and central Canada, and over the western and northern United States.  Wetter-than-average conditions are likely over portions of the U.S.  Gulf Coast and Florida, while drier-than-average conditions can be expected in the Ohio Valley and the Pacific Northwest

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