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La Niña’s return: What a warm North Pacific could mean for this winter

The senior science fellow with Nutrien Ag Solutions says it’s looking like another year with La Niña conditions in the Pacific.

Eric Snodgrass tells Brownfield, “This will be our fourth in five years.”  He says, “I’m watching it, but I’m more interested in how warm the North Pacific is.”

Snodgrass says La Niña typically brings cooler-than-average temperatures to the central Pacific, but if temperatures in the North Pacific stay elevated through December…

“We tend to have pretty cold and active winters in the Ohio River Valley because the jet stream runs over that heat in the North Pacific and dives into the Midwest,” he says.

He says it would be an unusual setup.

“So, if you have a warm North Pacific and a cold Equatorial Pacific, that is a bit more rare historically, and that’s why we’re all sitting here going, what’s winter going to be like?”  He says, “We’re like, I don’t know, we gotta see how it all plays out, who’s dominant.”

Snodgrass says La Niña typically brings colder and snowier winter conditions, especially in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region, which could help alleviate ongoing drought issues in parts of the eastern Corn Belt.

AUDIO: Eric Snodgrass – Nutrien Ag Solutions