California drought: Weak to moderate El Niņo not likely to bring much rain
San Francisco Chronicle / Thursday, July 10, 2014
Professional weather watchers are losing hope that the expected arrival of an El Niño in coming months will wash away California's drought.
The U.S. Climate Prediction Center, which issued its monthly report on Pacific Ocean weather patterns Thursday, is still projecting that sea surface temperatures will rise, a phenomenon known as El Niño. But the El Niño that's in the forecast will likely be "weak to moderate," the report says.
While strong El Niños have been associated with California's wettest years, lesser El Niños have not been linked to rainfall in Northern California.
"We're a lot less certain about what types of impacts we'll have this year," said Logan Johnson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service who has been tracking the development of the El Niño. "Unless it's a strong event, it doesn't do much to predict what winter rainfall will be."
STORY: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Report-El-Ni-o-not-likely-to-end-California-5613442.php
Story says that while an El Niño is unlikely to bring an end to the drought it doesn't mean California won't get rain -- many factors shape the weather. But I was hoping for a surer thing.
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