El Nino: What It Means for Winter 2018-19

Written by The Snow Report on August 21, 2018. Posted in Weather.

El Niño and La Niña… sound familiar?

Despite hearing these names nearly every year as it pertains to winter, there is still a lot of confusion as to what they mean and how it relates to snowfall.

OpenSnow founder, meteorologist and avid skier, Joel Gratz did a great job breaking down what El Niño is, why we care, and what we may see this winter as a result of El Niño.

Check out an excerpt from their newest post below and then head over to OpenSnow for the rest.

(originally posted on OpenSnow on August 20, 2018)

What and where is El Niño?

The water temperature in the central Pacific Ocean flips back and forth between warmer than average and cooler than average.

La Niña means that water temperatures are cooler than average.

El Niño means that water temperatures are warmer than average.

El Niño was originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America in the 1600s, with the appearance of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean.

The name El Niño, or ‘Christ child’, was chosen because these warm-water events happened to around the Christmas holiday.

Find out how El Niño may impact the 2018-2019 winter season.