What La Nina Means for California's Drought

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The climate pattern could bring very different fortunes for northern and southern parts of the state.

For California, the arrival of winter means the beginning of our rainy season, at least relatively speaking.

However much precipitation California is going to receive in a year, the bulk of it typically falls between December and March. And given the severity of our state’s ongoing drought, the amount of rain we get this winter couldn’t be of more importance.

A recent outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration suggests that the northern and southern halves of the state may experience diverging water fortunes this winter because of something you may already be familiar with: La Niña.

Like its climatological cousin El Niño, La Niña is a weather phenomenon that originates in the Pacific Ocean but can affect the whole world. La Niña generally means drier, warmer conditions in the southern half of the United States and wetter weather in the northern half.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/us/la-nina-california-drought.html

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