Everybody this spring is talking about Super El Nino. We all know around here that regular El Nino warms the Pacific and shifts the world’s weather patterns. Super El Nino really exaggerates the changes. In the 1877 SEL, millions died in Africa, Asia and Brazil due to drought. North America suffered extensive flooding. Other SEL years include 1982-83, 1997-98 and 2015-16. I recall 97-98 being the year we got record snow and I was riding my snowmobile on April 30th at night to see the Hale Bop Comet.
Luckily, modern technology means we can predict Super El Ninos well in advance. They no longer kill millions of people. Keep in mind this winter, though, things may come up abnormal. How will the summer fare first? Long range forecasters think the Upper Midwest summer will be cooler and drier than normal. On one hand that makes me fear more wild fires like those of last year.
Those same long range forecasters say June will be near normal for temps and an inch shy on rainfall. June 1 to 7 should be warm with thunderstorms. The 8th to 17th should be showery and cool. The 18th to 22nd will turn warm and stormy again. The rest of the month is slated to go sunny and hot.
On a final note, the legendary Richard “Heatwave” Berler sent me a message saying that last May was the 50th anniversary of his first weathercast on Channel 3. He is still going strong a doing weather in Laredo, Texas, but still has fond memories of our region and our people.
