Rainy Season Is Around
the Corner
The Instituto
Meteorologico Nacional (IMN)
- the national weather
service - says that,
although there was some
rain in February, March
will be remain dry as it
should be for the "temporada
seca" or dry season.
However, this year, the
rainy season will be
most likely begin in
April instead of mid
May, as Pacific region
and Central Valley will
enter the "green" season
early due to the effects
of La Niña.
The IMN says that the
rainy or green season
will most likely begin
for the Central Pacific
and Central Valley the
week of April 21, at
least 15 days earlier
than normal.
The Southern Pacific
will see the beginning
of the rainy season most
likely the week March
12. A revised forecast
is due next week.
La Niña is a coupled
ocean-atmosphere
phenomenon similar to El
Niño. During a period of
La Niña, the sea surface
temperature across the
equatorial Eastern
Central Pacific Ocean
will be lower than
normal by 0.5 °C. The
name La Niña originates
from Spanish, meaning
"the little girl",
analogous to El Niño
meaning "the little
boy".
La Niña is the opposite
of El Niño. El Niño is
famous due to its
potentially catastrophic
impact on the weather
along both the Chilean
and Australian coasts.
There was a strong La
Niña episode during
1988-1989. La Niña also
formed in 1995, and in
1999-2000. The last La
Niña was a minor one,
and occurred 2000-2001.
The IMN added that
temperatures this year
have been 1 or 2 degrees
Celsius lower than
normal, dipping below
the 10C at times.
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