Cheshire Cat Photo Blog(...said the Cat: 'we're all mad here....')

The U.S. Climate Prediction Center in its monthly report today, said the equatorial Pacific Ocean has remained abnormally warm and weak trade winds have allowed its waters to continue heating! Both phenomena are happening at levels seen before huge storms clobbered California during the wet El Niño winters of 1997-98 and 1982-83! Although there is no guarantee of rain with the current El Niño, historically, stronger weather patterns have meant a greater chance for precipitation in California, PARTICULARLY in Southern California! SFGate.com says:

“It could be one of the strongest we’ve seen,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.

Thursday’s report cited a 95 percent chance that the brewing El Niño will persist through winter, up from 90 percent last month.

After last month’s report from the Prediction Center, media began naming this El Niño “Bruce Lee” and “Godzilla!” Californian’s are hopeful after FOUR years of drought. State water officials are warning Californians against getting their hopes up too high.

“Current El Niño conditions cannot tell us how many storms may cross California this coming winter or how much rain and snow will fall in our state,” said state climatologist Mike Anderson in a prepared statement. “This uncertainty means that Californians should continue to use water carefully and sparingly in the face of the ongoing extreme drought.”