Pacific hints of new El Nino.Only a year after the last El Nino warming upset world weather, the Pacific Ocean is showing signs that another may soon develop, reports the National Weather Service's Climate Analysis Center (CAC See Consumer Advisory Council. ) in Camp Spring, Md. El Ninos occur when westward-blowing winds salcken along the equator, allowing ocean warmth from the western Pacific to spread east. The pool of warm water shifts the position of thunderstorms thunderstorms a storm characterized by thunder and lightning caused by strong rising air currents; identified as agents of animal disease because of their involvement causing (1) spasmodic colic; (2) lightning strike; (3) injuries of cattle acquired in stampedes initiated by storms. that pump heat and water into the air. This, in turn, reroutes atmospheric atmospheric /at·mos·pher·ic/ (at?mos-fer´ik) of or pertaining to the atmosphere. atmospheric of or pertaining to the atmosphere. currents around the globe. As a result, El Ninos bring torrential rains to some regions and droughts to others. The CAC reported last week that water temperatures have started creeping creeping 1. gradual progression of a lesion or tissue growth. 2. prostrate growth pattern of a plant, e.g. c. buttercup (Ranunculus repens), c. caustic (Euphorbia drummondii), c. charlie (Glechoma hederacea), c. upward in the central Pacific and that westward-blowing winds have weakened weak·en tr. & intr.v. weak·ened, weak·en·ing, weak·ens To make or become weak or weaker. weak  en·er n. . The next few months will determine whether an El Nino
develops or the warming dies out.
El Ninos typically occur 3 to 7 years apart and last about a year. But the Pacific has had unusual conditions of late, serving up an El Nino in mid-1991 that persisted until mid-1993. Now another may be coming. "We just haven't been able to get rid of all that warm water," says the CAC's Gerald Bell. |
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