NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center issued their outlook for March late last week, with a colder month expected ahead for many areas of the nation. Below average temperatures are forecast from the Northeast southward through the Tennessee Valley and Southern Plains to the Gulf of Mexico. Warmer than normal temperatures are favored in the Southwest.
Another round of heat is heat for portions of the Southwest later this week into the weekend. Excessive Heat Watches are already in effect for the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys this weekend. Heat Advisories are in effect today (Thursday) for several interior areas of Central California and southward to the Cuyama Valley and mountains of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
October 1 is New Year’s Day for water in the U.S. west. This year, Californians were bidding farewell to a dry 2018 water year (October 2017-September 2018), which saw precipitation totals fall below the annual average for much of the state. The return to drier than average conditions was a let-down following an extremely wet water year in 2017 that had helped bring about drought relief.
Forecasters are continuing to predict an El Niño this winter in the tropical Pacific Ocean. An El Niño Watch was issued earlier this summer in June. One of El Niño’s common “downstream” impacts is above-average winter precipitation across the southern United States, the result of a stronger than usual Pacific jet stream.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
