Wishy-Washy Weather

I'm sure you have noticed the unusually warm temperatures that have been occurring, especially during this winter. In fact, ice-out (all the ice melting) on the biggest lake in New Hampshire, Lake Winnipesaukee, happened the earliest ever recorded! Some people claim that all of this warm weather is due to climate change, when really there is someone else to blame. This is El Nino. El Nino as defined by Dictionary.com- a warm ocean current of variable intensity that develops after late December along the coast of Ecuador and Peru and sometimes causes catastrophic weather conditions. Though we are not living in Ecuador and there were no real catastrophic weather conditions except for the unnatural warm temperatures, El Nino is really what is happening. Unfortunately, if you want the exact description of El Nino, you will have to ask a meteorologist, but I think if you read on, it will be pretty well described. A common sign that El Nino is occurring is the warm ocean temperatures. These warm temperatures are compared to the cold ones of La Nina, El Nino's sister. To me, it seems like we experience La Nina every year living in New England, but really El Nino and La Nina happen every 3 to 7 years. An interesting fact is that El Nino means "the boy" in Spanish and La Nina means "the girl" in Spanish. El Nino happens because of the trade winds of the world relaxing near the central and western Pacific. When this happens, the thermocline flattens because of the Eastern Pacific's depression of thermocline and the Western Pacific's elevation of thermocline. By now, you are probably asking, "What is a thermocline?" Well, I have the answer for you. As defined National Ocean Service, A thermocline is the transition layer between warmer mixed water at the ocean's surface and cooler deep water below. Also, El Nino can not only be recognized by rising ocean temperatures, but air high temperatures as well. El Nino can also cause heavy rainfall and storms. But rest assured, El Nino is only temporary, so we will be back to our cold winter weather in no time!

Weather can change in the blink of an eye, as we New-Englanders fully understand. If you feel that you must check the forecast for our wishy-washy weather, then you can go to https://www.yahoo.com/news/weather/ for the forecast of the coming week.

Picture: "Meaning of Dream «Weather»." The Meaning of the Dream in Which You Saw «Weather». Tony

Arbenche, n.d. Web. 18 May 2016.

Citations: "What Is a Thermocline?" What Is a Thermocline? National Ocean Service, 28 July 2015. Web. 26 May

2016.

"Google Translate." Google Translate. Google, n.d. Web. 26 May 2016.

"The Definition of El Nino." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 26 May 2016.

"What Is El Niño?" NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) |. National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.