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Weather expert predicts a shift to La Niña for 2020

The 2020 global weather outlook looks much different than it did in 2019.

Dr. Art Douglas, weather consultant and professor emeritus of atmospheric science at Creighton University, says the end of the El Nino weather pattern is near, and a La Nina will develop in the near future.  

Right now, he says, there are concerns about the lack of snow cover.  “All the way from Nebraska into the Alberta and Saskatchewan it is quite dry,” he says.  “And if we’re going to have a cold winter, which is typical of La Nina, we ought to have more snow on the ground to facilitate that cold.”

Looking ahead to the summer, Douglas says farmers could see a similar pattern in parts of the US.  “Good moisture through the Corn Belt, so not a lot of concern for the Corn Belt, and temperatures near normal through the Corn Belt also.”

As for summer precipitation?  Douglas says, “it kind of starts on the wet side, but I think it’s going to turn drier as we get toward the end of the summer.”

Douglas made his remarks at the 2020 Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

AUDIO: Art Douglas, CattleFax weather outlook