Does the warm winter really mean something?

The talk of the last couple weeks has been the warm winter… at least in the East. I was in Las Vegas last week and left with a temperature of 35 degrees and landed in Maine to 59 degrees at 7 p.m. What is happening? There has been considerable discussion on our forum about this unusual winter. We are also conducting a poll on our home page. If you have not had an opportunity, weigh in on Global Warming.

Here is a question from earlier today.

Hello from New Hampshire, I was just wondering if you feel global warming is effecting your forecasts? Thanks! Ron

I think the El Niño is impacting weather this winter. It is different from Global Warming. If it was Warming, it would be warm everywhere and all the time. Our friends in Denver might argue that this is not Global Warming. El Niño sends warm Pacific winds across the country vs. the normal winter jet stream that goes into Canada and drives frigid temps down. There is ample cold in Canada, the jet stream is just not heading north. We do our predictions two years in advance. No way to know or adjust for El Niño. That said, it could change any moment. Most El Niño years have a warm start and snowy finish. Our predictions call for most of this winter’s snows to be in February and early March.

I am sure you remember two winters ago, when we had a record cold January and so much snow, there wasn’t any room for it all. If it was true warming, it would be warm every winter. While I do think we are doing things to our planet that give all of us concern, for this winter, at least, I am leaning toward the El Niño.

It is a great question, Ron … One we are thinking about every day.

Technorati Tags Global Warming, El Niño