Randy Mann: Extremes dominate U.S. weather news
Our pattern of weather extremes continues as conditions seem to go from drought to flood, record heat to record cold and so forth across much of the country.
The building El Nino in the south-central Pacific Ocean is at least partially responsible for the dramatic end to the extreme drought conditions in Texas and Oklahoma for the past five years. Floodwaters have covered dry soils and reservoirs have been replenished to nearly 80 percent of capacity in a matter of three weeks – after being at record low levels. There have been a few stations reporting more than 20 inches of rain this month.
Parts of Oklahoma and Texas in May have already reported their wettest month in history. More than 70 percent of the region’s rivers are likely to hit flood levels. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently declared 37 counties around north-central Texas disaster areas.
The heavy rainfall has also extended into Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas and Louisiana. Severe weather was even reported in Mexico on Monday as a tornado ripped through Ciudad Acuna, a city that borders the U.S.
The flooding problems are expected to continue into June and July as more moisture is expected. However, there may be a brief break from the flooding rains later this weekend and into early next week.
With the new El Nino, residents in California are hoping for much heavier rainfall in the next rainy season, which usually begins in October or November. Despite the fact that many stations in the Golden State did receive about 70 to 80 percent of normal precipitation for the 2014-15 season, water levels remain very low from continued drought conditions over the past four years.
During El Nino years the subtropical jet stream often intensifies, bringing copious amounts of moisture from regions near Hawaii into California that many refer to as the “Pineapple Connection.” We’ve seen many cases where this state will go from drought to mudslides.
Across the Inland Northwest, scattered thunderstorms this week helped moisture totals, but May likely will end up below normal. At the airport, as of early Tuesday, the total for the month is just over 0.80 inches, compared to a normal of about 1.25 inches. Since Jan. 1, Spokane has picked up close to 6.8 inches of moisture. Last year, we had 7.30 inches at this time.
With a number of afternoons in the 80s, average temperatures have been well above normal this month. The airport’s reading is more than 5 degrees higher than usual. The 83-degree reading on May 22 was about 15 degrees above normal. More 80-degree temperatures are expected this weekend.