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The northwest is hugely affected by El Nino/La Nina patterns.
Yup.
But more importantly, each of the past 5 years in a row have been hotter than the last one, and 2 of those years had a La Niña pattern, which is always the colder of the two. This longer term pattern may be making this El Niño pattern unusually hot, even for an El Niño.
Since neither only lasts for a year, I think next year, while the El Niño will still be holding, will tell us more than this year. If it does, it means some bad news- the northwest has so far avoided the worst of the drought, but if it continues into 2016 as it is, the intermountain west could become as dry as Oklahoma has been for most of a decade, and we could see huge wildfires return. The last time they were bad was now 15 years ago, in a less strong El Niño cycle.
I don't know what the natural cycle might be but certainly it would be every 1 or 2 decades.
This is the kind of forest native to Vancouver Island....Some of these trees are over 800 years old...The last time this place saw fire was 350 years ago, but many trees survived it.... Cathedral Grove | British Columbia | Our Big Tree Heritage
This is the kind of forest native to Vancouver Island....Some of these trees are over 800 years old...The last time this place saw fire was 350 years ago, but many trees survived it.... Cathedral Grove | British Columbia | Our Big Tree Heritage
From your link:
Quote:
They are the survivors of a forest fire that ravaged the area some 350 years ago..
The thing is without fire that grove may not exist or be quite as majestic.
I've been to Yosemite in similar forest with the giant Sequoia's, as I recall they are resistant to fire and actually need it. That was actually the first place I learned about how the mismanagement of forest fires has been bad for the forests.
Yup.
But more importantly, each of the past 5 years in a row have been hotter than the last one, and 2 of those years had a La Niña pattern, which is always the colder of the two. This longer term pattern may be making this El Niño pattern unusually hot, even for an El Niño.
Since neither only lasts for a year, I think next year, while the El Niño will still be holding, will tell us more than this year. If it does, it means some bad news- the northwest has so far avoided the worst of the drought, but if it continues into 2016 as it is, the intermountain west could become as dry as Oklahoma has been for most of a decade, and we could see huge wildfires return. The last time they were bad was now 15 years ago, in a less strong El Niño cycle.
This is what I am more concerned about. An unusually warm El Nino isn't a big deal, but a series of dry and warming years is.
In my life it seems like it's getting cooler. I remember as a kid on the farm (1970's) about 6 years in a row of blistering heat and drought. We barely had crops live to harvest. That followed by about 10 years of normal to cooler than normal temps to very hot again at the end of the 80's to about the mid 90's (which is when some idiot dreamed up this global warming horse manure). Now for about the last 10+ years we have had very nice temps, abundant rain and bumper crops. This year, my family farm is expecting possibly the best crops ever.
Localized weather over a short period of time is not equal to climate.
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Surely not chemtrails so many deny. I see them here in the DC area all the time. I also see them in TX, OR and ID.