Environment

California Drought

California is experiencing the worst drought in its history, and the effects are being felt nationwide. Thus water issues have taken center stage in much of our reporting and the nation's.As the New York Times says, "Water has long been a precious resource in California, the subject of battles pitting farmer against city-dweller and northern communities against southern ones; books and movies have been made about its scarcity and plunder. Water is central to the state’s identity and economy, and a symbol of how wealth and ingenuity have tamed nature ..."As we continue through a fourth year of extreme drought conditions, you'll find all of our reporting on the related issues (and that of NPR and other member stations) in this centralized place.

Odds Of Strong El Niño Conditions Grow

North State Public Radio

Published June 12, 2015 at 11:21 AM PDT

Climatologists affiliated with the National Weather Service say there is increasing confidence that the currently building El Niño phenomenon will develop into a strong El Niño incident.

That’s potentially good news for a drought-stricken California. Strong El Niño periods, like the winters of 82-83 and 97-98 are associated with heavy, drought-busting deluges in the state. Weak to moderate El Niños appear to have little effect locally.

In an update released Thursday, the weather service’s climate prediction center put the odds of El Niño conditions continuing through the winter at 85 percent. For the first time, a small majority of forecasters are predicting that this El Niño will be a strong one.

El Niño’s are marked by higher water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific. The warmer water causes trade winds to fail, causing other disruptions to normal weather patterns. El Nino’s are associated with drought in Australia and Indonesia, warmth in the Pacific Northwest and below normal Atlantic hurricane seasons.