Those of us who enjoy summer are going to have a great winter this year, while those of us that don’t are going to have a fairly disappointing year.

  Every four years or so, an upwelling in the southern Pacific Ocean causes a shift in weather patterns, an El Niño. This is a natural process in our world’s cycle, and it is one that is beneficial for some and damaging for others. The fishermen of Chile are forced to go out farther into the ocean because the fish all come out farther from the coast, which makes life harder for them. For us, it means a very disappointing winter.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2015/images/Outlook_map_temp2015_2F_2000.jpg

  In our area of the U.S. El Nino means a very warm and wet winter. As the map above shows, we will have a 33% ish chance of a warmer winter, and as evidenced by the already unseasonably warm weather, mother nature likes those odds. El Nino is not predicted to end until March, and by that point it will be spring time. The one good thing to come out of this will be that we will have a spring break, unless the school closes for flooding.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2015/images/Outlook_map_Precip_2015_2F_2000.jpg

  That chance of flooding isn’t entirely impossible, either, but is still unlikely, as we are predicted to have a 33-40% chance of higher precipitation. Either way, with any luck, California will get some much-needed rain, though they seem to be having a fairly difficult time in this area of luck.