Sing with me! "I'm dreaming of a green and brown
Christmas!??" It has been a very warm fall in New England, a pattern
that looks to continue throughout the start of the winter. Are you
experiencing out of the norm weather where you live? If so, you can
blame El Niño again!
What exactly is El Niño anyway? It's
not just a term meteorologists made up and use when they get bored,
although in my experience TV weather personalities do love to latch
on to any new buzz word they can! (Polar Vortex and Snowmageddon
anyone?)
Every few years we experience the
unpredictable weather pattern, El Niño. It is caused by warmer ocean
waters in the Pacific. Under normal circumstances strong winds push warm water from South America to Indonesia. This
allows the cooler water underneath to rise up. The surface
temperature of the ocean water has a great impact on the weather
because more clouds form over warmer areas of the ocean. During an El
Niño, the winds are not as strong as usual and the warm waters do
not move west as they do normally.
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| El Nino Conditions
NOAA image[Public domain]
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When the temperatures rise in the
Pacific ocean, this affects the course of the jet stream. The jet
stream is a strong wind high up in the atmosphere that can reach over
200 miles per hour. These winds help to steer weather patterns by
moving air masses on the surface of the land and weather systems in
the atmosphere. El Niño adjusts the position of the jet stream,
giving areas weather that may be different than usual.
Meteorologists with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predict that the United
States will see wetter than average conditions in southern areas, and
drier than average conditions for the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, the
Great Lakes and Ohio Valley area. Temperatures will most likely be
above average for the west and the northern half of the lower 48
states and colder than normal in the southern plains and southeast.
Meteorologists are anticipating many changes in weather patterns as
this is one of the strongest El Niño events on record.
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By Giorgiogp2 [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons
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Children and students will no doubt
notice the changes in weather. I know many kiddos who are looking
forward to snow sports and snow days! Below is some additional
reading and resources to help you understand and teach about El Niño.
El Niño and Weather Information and Resources:
- Science News for Students: "New El Niño Coming On Strong"
- NASA's Climate Kids- What is El Niño?
- Weather Wiz Kids- Weather and Climate
- National Geographic Encyclopedia- El Niño
- NOAA Investigating Data in the Classroom- El Niño Activity
- El Niño Interactive
- National Geographic El Niño and La Niña Education Activity
Looking for some weather kits for making observations at school or home? (affiliate links)
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