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Lacking a La Niña or El Niño

So far this winter we’ve seen record high temperatures, rain, snow, and ice.  Part of the reason – is the lack of a La Nina or El Nino weather pattern. 

Indiana associate state climatologist Ken Scheeringa says one of the things they look at is the surface temperatures of the Pacific Ocean – because it is an important indicator to what the season is going to be like. 

He tells Brownfield a year ago at this time we were in a La Nina weather pattern – which he says tends to favor a drought in the summer months. 

But, that is not the case this year.  “We’re at what we call a neutral phase – are not in El Nino or La Nina,” he says.  “That in itself is a different weather pattern than we had a year ago and is actually pretty good news for us.”

Looking ahead – Scheeringa anticipates a colder than normal February – but says the models are uncertain about precipitation amounts.