Nature & Environment
Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil's Prediction and How El Niño is Contributing
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Feb 02, 2016 11:22 AM EST
There won't be two more weeks of winter this year. Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, which means that were in for an early spring. With El Niño, though, we shouldn't be all that surprised; temperatures are heating up-and quickly.
The reason why the east coast in particular has experienced such a mild winter is due to El Niño. This weather pattern is cyclical, which means that it comes around once every few years. It occurs when Pacific Ocean temperatures rise along the equator, which drives up temperatures across the globe.
Previous El Niños coincided with the large-scale redistribution of some West Coast marine mammals, fish and sea turtles. It's possible that we may similar effects with this latest El Niño.
Currently, the NOAA expects that El Niño will continue to push temperatures upward in early 2016. This should affect U.S. temperature and precipitation patterns. However, the weather pattern is expected to gradually weakened through the spring of 2016 and should become ENSO-neutral during late spring or early summer.
For now, it seems as if Punxsutawney Phil is right in his prediction. Good-bye winter and hello spring.
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First Posted: Feb 02, 2016 11:22 AM EST
There won't be two more weeks of winter this year. Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, which means that were in for an early spring. With El Niño, though, we shouldn't be all that surprised; temperatures are heating up-and quickly.
The reason why the east coast in particular has experienced such a mild winter is due to El Niño. This weather pattern is cyclical, which means that it comes around once every few years. It occurs when Pacific Ocean temperatures rise along the equator, which drives up temperatures across the globe.
Previous El Niños coincided with the large-scale redistribution of some West Coast marine mammals, fish and sea turtles. It's possible that we may similar effects with this latest El Niño.
Currently, the NOAA expects that El Niño will continue to push temperatures upward in early 2016. This should affect U.S. temperature and precipitation patterns. However, the weather pattern is expected to gradually weakened through the spring of 2016 and should become ENSO-neutral during late spring or early summer.
For now, it seems as if Punxsutawney Phil is right in his prediction. Good-bye winter and hello spring.
Related Stories
Orange Peels May Clean Up the Ocean by Soaking Up Mercury
Sunscreen is Killing Coral Reefs Around the World
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone