The last time there was a lengthy spell of legitimately cold (relative to average) weather here in our region was in late winter 2015.
Many people are under the impression this is a manifestation of global warming. While it may be related, the primary cause of our two-year warm spell has been a large pool of warmer-than-average ocean water across the northern Pacific Ocean.
This past winter, however, this warm blob shifted to the north and west into the Arctic and northern Siberia. The North Pacific is now colder than average. This shift probably contributed to the wet winter along the West Coast and the end of the California drought. It will be interesting to see how all this this interacts with a developing El Niño pattern expected to bring warmer water to the tropical regions Pacific as these two anomalies have the potential to bring conflicting effects to our area, particularly next fall and winter. Stay tuned.
