Weather Pattern Shifting To El Niño

Shane Holinde

The weather pattern is shifting from a La Niña to an El Niño and that will affect weather across the Commonwealth.
Shane Holinde, the Outreach Manager for the Kentucky Mesonet, tells Your News Edge we have been in a La Niña phase for the last couple of years.

Holinde says El Niño means the pattern will flip and feature a warming of the waters in the Central Pacific.

He adds sometimes the flip between the two can happen yearly, resulting in weak La Niñas and El Niños, but indications are showing this pattern could last for an extended period.
Holinde says El Niños typically affect the winter season the most.

One of the more recent examples of a strong El Niño winter comes from the 2015-16 season.

Another major event that occurred during an El Niño pattern was the Blizzard of 1978. That storm would shut down most of the western and central portions of Kentucky when 5 to 30 inches of snow fell.

Kentucky Mesonet offers you the chance to review weather data for all of its sites across the state. Learn more here.

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