El Niño Is Not Treating All of California Evenly

In August 2015, forecasters predicted that a “Godzilla El Niño” would be heading to the western United States, potentially wiping out (or at least putting a major dent) in the widespread drought. Meteorologists pointed to the similarities between the ocean warming in 1997 and the pattern seen last summer. So far, the forecasters correctly predicted […]

El Niño and Drought Relief in the Pacific Northwest

As 2016 begins, climate researchers remain optimistic that the El Niño pattern that began to build last fall will hold and will generally deliver wet weather across areas of the US facing some of the worst drought conditions such as California. At the January 8th Operation Sierra Storm Conference in Lake Tahoe, Sasha Gershunov, climate and […]

El Niño 2015: A Drought Buster or Just a Bust?

The Western United States remains mired in a serious drought. According to the most recent US Drought Monitor, 74.51% of the Western United States faces some sort of drought conditions. Extreme drought covers 18.87% of the West, with extreme and exceptional drought covering portions of California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Despite an abnormal dose […]

Drought in the Northwest – Will La Niña Provide any Relief this Winter?

Last winter, California was supposed to bear the brunt of a “Godzilla El Niño” that would go a long way towards alleviating the drought here. Instead, a host of atmospheric conditions largely sent storms that most meteorologists predicted would hit California to the Pacific Northwest. As such, Northern California, Oregon and Washington experienced the majority […]