Updated: 12:19 PM EDT May 20, 2021
BUFFALO, N.Y. After developing and persisting for almost a year, impacting the Northern Hemisphere s fall and winter months in 2020, the most recent La Niña has ended.
In their seasonal update, the Climate Predication Center (CPC) noted La Niña conditions weakened over the past few months, favoring more ENSO-Neutral conditions. This means that the cooler than average sea surface temperatures and atmospheric pattern associated with the La Niña are no longer present. More normal seas surface temperatures and climate patterns for that region have returned again, hence the neutral designation.
But this doesn t mean that North American and United States wont be impacted by ENSO conditions, just that our seasonal weather patterns won t stray from what s typical like it would if there was an El Niño or La Niña present. Plus, North American summers are driven by more local teleconnections patterns, like the North American
After a long stretch of dry, sunny and even hot weather in the Willamette Valley, rainfall finally returns this weekend.
Around a half-inch of precipitation is expected in the valley, with a bit more in the mountains and even some flurries at pass levels.
Saturday appears to be the wettest day, but isolated showers and cooler temperatures are expected early next week as well, as more spring-like weather returns.
The problem is that by itself, this system is nowhere near enough to bring Oregon to normal precipitation levels for spring or begin beating back a drought that s spreading across the state.