California Drought: Strengthening El Niño Could Mean Wet Winter
The chances that California will begin clawing its way out of the drought with a wet winter got a bump Thursday with a federal report showing an El Niño weather pattern continuing to strengthen in the Pacific.
The U.S. Climate Prediction Center reported that telltale signs of El Niño — which include warming sea surface temperatures and emerging equatorial winds — bore close resemblance to conditions preceding some of the strongest El Niños in recent history.
El Niños carry no assurances for forecasters, but big ones have correlated with increased rainfall across much of California, such as in the winters of 1982-83 and 1997-98, which were among the state’s wettest years.
More: California Drought: Strengthening El Niño Could Mean Wet Winter - SFGate