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Glenn Burns Weather
'La Nina’
to impact area weather
 Right
now across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, there is something
developing that will likely have a major impact on our weather this
fall and spring. The sea surface temperatures are getting colder and
colder. This is a phenomenon called “La Nina.”
Colder water in the Pacific is going to do a couple
of things. First, colder water has less evaporation than warm
water. That will mean fewer storm systems than average entering the
United States. Second, La Nina will cause a massive “blocking” high
pressure area to form in the Gulf of Alaska and extend down into the
Pacific Northwest. This blocking high will cause the jet stream to
change and will likely be well north of us through most of the fall
and winter months, possibly even into the spring.
When a La Nina develops, north Georgia tends to be
much warmer than average and drier than average.
So it looks like this coming fall and winter will be
a great deal different than the bitter cold and snowy winter we
endured last year. That may be good news! I don’t know about you,
but my heating bill last winter and cooling bill this summer has
been like a second mortgage payment.
Our state climatologist, David Stooksbury, is a
little concerned about the drought potential increasing. So far this
summer, most of north Georgia has only received between 50-75
percent of normal rainfall. If we don’t get a decent amount of rain
this fall and winter season to recharge the ground water and area
lakes, we could be again facing some serious drought issues. The
Climate Prediction Center also agrees. The outlook for early fall is
for near average temperatures but below normal rainfall. However,
the prediction from November through January is for above average
temperatures and below average precipitation.
That being said, after a rather benign tropical
weather season, we are going to reach the peak of the Atlantic
hurricane season on September 15th. Climatologically, that’s when we
can see some fairly fierce storms. We could certainly use some
widespread tropical rains before we begin this warm and dry period.
I love September. It’s a rather tranquil month
weather-wise. There is still plenty of time to enjoy the lake. The
first day of fall is September 20th and the Full Harvest moon will
rise on Thursday night, September 23rd.
Enjoy the lake this month, and who knows, we could
have extended summer warmth as La Nina continues to evolve on the
other side of the world!
Glenn Burns is chief meteorologist for WSB-TV in Atlanta.
glenn@lakesidenews.com
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