Summer 2016 Weather Outlook
As we wind down this winter, you may recall that it was marked by significant El Niño conditions. This current El Niño is only the third unusually large version since 1950 and the first since 1997/98. The prior two strong El Nino winters were immediately followed by its counterpart, called a La Niña. A La Niña often, though not always, follows an El Niño. La Niña conditions tend to produce hot, dry summers in some parts of the U.S. It also typically causes mostly the opposite effects of El Niño such as above-average precipitation across the northern Midwest, the northern Rockies, Northern California, and the Pacific Northwest's southern and eastern regions. Meanwhile, precipitation in the southwestern and southeastern states is below average. This also allows for the development of many stronger-than-average hurricanes in the Atlantic and less in the Pacific.