WASHINGTON - After three years, the La Nina weather phenomenon that increases Atlantic hurricane activity and worsens western drought is gone, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced March 9. That’s generally good news for the U.S. and drought-stricken NE Africa, scientists said. The world is now in a “neutral” condition and likely trending to an El Nino in late summer or fall, said climate scientist Michelle L’Heureux, head of NOAA’s El Nino/La Nina forecast office. La Nina is a natural and temporary cooling of parts of the Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide. In the U.S., because La Nina is connected to more Atlantic storms and deeper droughts and wildfires in the West, it is often more damaging and expensive than El Nino, studies show. (The AP 03/09/23) La Nina, which worsens hurricanes and drought, is gone (wlox.com)
BACKGROUND: La Nina seemed to treat Louisiana and the rest of the Southeast like a punching bag over the past three years and left behind many scars from hurricanes and tornadoes. Experts caution that attributing any event to La Nina is difficult, but they say generally that hurricanes/tornadoes in the SE are more frequent during La Nina. Examples of the 44 different billion-dollar extremes of nasty weather during La Nina’s reign.
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