La Niña is officially here and will likely stick around through the upcoming winter.
The Climate Prediction Center issued a "La Niña Advisory"due to cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures being observed along the eastern equatorial Pacific.
La Niña's here! Every one is different, and there are no guarantees, but La Niña boosts the chances for a warm, dry winter across the southern United States. Read more in our latest ENSO blog. https://t.co/SU74MGTrXH pic.twitter.com/tU4DD55JuF
— NOAA Climate.gov (@NOAAClimate) September 10, 2020
This pattern typically pushes the jet stream, or upper-level steering winds, farther north, keeping the storm track away from the Desert Southwest.
For Arizona, this means winter will likely be warmer and drier than normal.
The news comes after going through the hottest and driest summer on record. 97% of Arizona is in a drought, with more than half the state under an extreme drought.
