Posted October 12, 2010 | Filed Under Document, Featured
Written by Peter Kray | Comments: 5
Pacific Northwest (Shred White and Blue)-It’s time to start waxing up the big boards in the Pacific Northwest, as the prediction for a strong La Niña weather pattern is gaining strength across the U.S.
Compared to the El Niño pattern that rocked the Southwest Rocky Mountains with tons of wet snow last season (and actually resulted in some deep powder poaching in the off-limits hoodoos of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah), La Niña tends to send the deepest days to places like Crystal Mountain and Baker in Washington State.
Consistent with nearly all of the forecast models, La Niña is expected to last at least into the Northern Hemisphere spring 2011. Just over half of the models, as well as the dynamical and statistical averages, predict La Niña to become a strong episode (defined by a 3-month average Niño-3.4 index of –1.5oC or colder) by the November-January season before beginning to weaken. Even though the rate of anomalous cooling temporarily abated during September, this model outcome is favored due to the historical tendency for La Niña to strengthen as winter approaches.
Likely La Niña impacts during October-December 2010 include suppressed convection over the central tropical Pacific Ocean, and enhanced convection over Indonesia. The transition into the Northern Hemisphere fall means that La Niña will begin to exert an increasing influence on the weather and climate of the United States. Expected U.S. impacts include an enhanced chance of above-average precipitation in the Pacific Northwest, and below-average precipitation across the southern tier of the country.
For the surf set, La Niña can contribute to increased Atlantic hurricane activity by decreasing the vertical wind shear over the Caribbean Sea and tropical Atlantic Ocean. Conversely, La Niña is associated with suppressed hurricane activity across the central and eastern tropical North Pacific.
According to the AFP media services, World Meteorological Organization climate services chief Rupa Kumar Kolli said a “moderate to strong” La Nina, which appeared in July, was now well established.
Kumar Kolli told journalists that forecasts showed “rather a strengthening of this La Nina episode for the next four to six months.”
Hang on Shred America, it’s going to be another wild ride!
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5 Responses to “Pacific Powder: Here Comes La Niña”
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Here’s to a great snowy winter for the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy it, I think it’s your turn.
The sun’s not yellow…it’s chicken!
Matt Cassidy, PNW
Get Up, Get Down and Grab Your Parka – the Sixth Annual Backcountry Film Festival is Back!
Have you made the official swap of the gear closet yet? Traded in your paddles for boards? Do you hoot and holler every time you see a slight dusting of snow on the hills? Whether you go berserk at the slightest hint of snow or are just a fan of human-powered recreation, you will want to grab your friends and make your way down to this year’s Winter Wildlands Alliance Backcountry Film Festival.
Now in its sixth year, the Backcountry Film Festival highlights the beauty, diversity, and fun of the winter backcountry experience. Submissions come from world renowned filmmakers who travel every corner of the globe to submit their best backcountry work, and from grassroots filmmakers who take a video camera out on their weekend excursions and submit their best film short. The top films are then juried and assembled into a night of fun for all—whether you like to ski, snowboard, snowshoe, or even just stay indoors and drink hot cocoa by the fire, there is something for everyone.
These films are as diverse as the backcountry experience and will put a smile on the face of even the most winter-averse viewer.
The Film Festival benefits Winter Wildlands Alliance’s efforts to preserve and conserve winter landscapes for quiet users. After its Boise premiere, the festival travels to more than 30 communities throughout the United States, all the way from Alaska to New Hampshire. Funds raised stay in local communities to support local human-powered recreation efforts.
Winners of the festival this year include:
Best of Festival Teton Gravity Research’s “Deeper” follows legendary snowboarder Jeremy Jones and other top riders as they forsake helicopters, snowmobiles and lifts to venture deep into untouched terrain under their own power.
Best Short Film, “Desert River” from Sweetgrass Productions, is a beautiful ski adventure into Alaska.
Best Environmental Film, “Whitebark Warrior” from TreeFight and Snaz Media, chronicles the decline of thousand-year old whitebark pines due to climate change and efforts underway to save these iconic high alpine trees.
For more information and tour dates go to http://www.backcountryfilmfestival.org
Well, as much as I want to be happy for the P.N.W, down here in the R.M.S.W. we are getting a little nervous…
all over