A WETTER, WARMER WINTER AHEAD EL NINO'S RETURN SHOULD DAMPEN THE SOUTHLAND.Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer After the hottest summer on record, weather forecasters predicted Thursday that moderate El Nino conditions would usher in Verb 1. usher in - be a precursor of; "The fall of the Berlin Wall ushered in the post-Cold War period" inaugurate, introduce commence, lead off, start, begin - set in motion, cause to start; "The U.S. a warmer winter and greater number of storms by spring. El Nino is a warming of the water in the tropical Pacific that is associated with changes in air pressure and the movement of high-level winds that can affect weather worldwide. The conditions are likely to continue into early next year, and scientists said there is potential for them to strengthen. ``Right now, we're leaning toward wetter-than-average conditions in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , but a much more moderate event than in 1997-98,'' said Vernon Kousky, lead El Nino forecaster for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Noun 1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources; predicts changes to the earth's environment; provides weather reports and forecasts floods and hurricanes and Climate Prediction Climate prediction refers to :
``You should get more storms around Southern California.'' Scientists say ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific have risen remarkably in the past two weeks and may strengthen into a moderate El Nino by winter. A climate phenomenon linked to warm sea surface temperatures, El Nino impacts global weather and has been blamed for massive flooding, damaging surf and landslides in Southern California. Some researchers, however, doubted the potential for a drenching drenching farmer's term for the administration of medicines as solutions or suspensions in water by mouth with a drench bottle, gun or funnel. drenching bit to be included in a bridle as a bit. winter. ``Right now, it's El Nino pequeno,'' or a little El Nino, said Bill Patzert, research oceanographer for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. in La Canada Flintridge. ``Don't make an investment in umbrellas. To have impact in Southern California, it would have to take steroids over the next three months.'' NOAA NOAA abbr. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Noun 1. NOAA - an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources; predicts changes to the earth's environment; forecasters said this year's weak El Nino may have already tamed the Atlantic hurricane season with milder-than-expected weather. In the past month, the developing El Nino has brought drier-than-average weather to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, areas generally affected first by El Nino conditions. A moderate El Nino this winter, according to the NOAA, could bring warmer temperatures to western and northern U.S. regions and to western and central Canada. El Nino could also make the Gulf Coast and Florida wetter and bring drier conditions to the Ohio Valley, the Pacific Northwest and U.S. islands in the tropical Pacific. ``We'll just get Seattle's storms,'' said David Neelin, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. . ``This is a moderate El Nino that increases the chances in Southern California we'll have a rainy winter.'' El Nino, Spanish for ``the little boy,'' occurs in the Pacific region about every five years, often around Christmas. Fisherman named it El Nino after the Baby Jesus. The phenomenon alternates with La Nina, Spanish for ``the little girl,'' a cooling of ocean water at the equator that can create dry winters for Southern California. El Nino has resulted in six major rainfalls in Los Angeles since weather was first recorded in 1878. The El Nino in 1883-84 dropped 38.18 inches of rain on downtown, while the one in 1982-83 battered pleasure piers and coastal and hillside communities from Santa Barbara to San Diego, causing $523 million in property damage. But it was the infamous El Nino of 1997-98 that is best remembered for devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. floods in California, Ecuador and Chile and for severe drought in Indonesia, Australia and the Philippines. Storms beginning in early February 1998 dumped 31.01 inches in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or and caused floods that spurred disaster declarations in 40 of 58 counties across the state, wreaking $550 million in property damage. The 1997-98 El Nino downpours set records in Chatsworth (44.19 inches), Simi Valley (40.05 inches) and Northridge (36.10 inches). Rain-induced pothole pothole, in geology, cylindrical pit formed in the rocky channel of a turbulent stream. It is formed and enlarged by the abrading action of pebbles and cobbles that are carried by eddies, or circular water currents that move against the main current of a stream. complaints prompted 2,041 calls in March 1998 in Los Angeles. Sewer lines, overrun by the rains, overflowed. City officials have since invested $486 million in sewer-interceptor lines from west Los Angeles
In the past five years, sanitary-sewer overflows have dropped 70 percent, well below state and national averages. This fiscal year, the city cleaned 109,000 sewer pipes. Bureau of Sanitation workers are inspecting and cleaning 45,000 catch basins, 102 debris basins and 1,260 miles of storm drains ahead of the rain. dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3730 |
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