Enjoy the Heat Wave While You Can: Los Angeles May Be in for a Long, Stormy Winter
As the mercury rises this week and your commute gets a couple shades sweatier, we don't want to hear you whining to the L.A. Daily News that you're "very tired of it being constantly warm."
Jacrews7 via Flickr Tan while you can.
Seriously -- be grateful, people! Because it's looking like you'll have plenty of time for your miserable rainy-day parties this winter:
The U.S. Climate Prediction Center announced last week that "forecaster consensus reflects increased chances for El Niño beginning in July-September 2012."
In other words, El Niño is expected to hit hard and early this year. And, although this super-scary weather event is technically a warming of the oceans, it has historically wet consequences for SoCal.
Seattle meteorologist Scott Sistek gloats on the Komo News website that "while El Nino usually means warm/dry winters here, it frequently means a very stormy winter in Los Angeles, especially once you get into January and February."
Dammit. More from his analysis:
The dry, warm weather comes from a split in the storm track to where the main jet stream goes well to our north, allowing warmer air to trek further north, while a strong southern branch of the jet stream will pummel southern California and the Desert Southwest.
Although El Niño is only supposed to hit every four to 12 years, it's been haunting us more frequently as the end of the world draws nearer: We were reportedly hit in 2009-10, 2006-07, 2004-05 and 2002-03.
And here everyone says our weather is so perfect!
Even if you're melting under triple digits in the Valley this week, close your eyes and think how much worse it'll be to clomp through soggy leaves and dodge falling telephone poles come September. Now is a time for Bloody Marys and Rihanna shorts, so help us God.
[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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