LaNina from sunsentinel 10/9

[Vortex]

La Nina is back, but will it have an impact on storms?
By Ken Kaye | Sun-Sentinel.com
2:41 PM EDT, October 9, 2007
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Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Google Newsvine Reddit Yahoo Print Single page view Reprints Reader feedback Text size: It's official: La Niña is here, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Tuesday.

Whether the atmospheric condition, known for nurturing tropical systems, will have an impact on the remainder of the 2007 storm season remains to be seen.

It already is making conditions ripe in the Caribbean for storm formation by reducing wind shear, said hurricane prognosticator Phil Klotzbach, who works with William Gray at Colorado State University.



Related links
NOAA graphic showing the temperature outlook from December thru February in the U.S.
NOAA graphic showing the precipitation outlook from December thru February in the U.S.
"Some of the forecast models are trying to spin up a storm or two in the Caribbean in the next few days," Klotzbach said. "We'll see if this verifies."

La Niña, created by a cooling of the eastern Pacific Ocean, calms the atmosphere, allowing storms to build. Because experts anticipated its arrival, they predicted a more active than normal hurricane season this year.

So far, 13 named systems, including four hurricanes, already have emerged. Before the season ends on Nov. 30, three to four more named storms, including possibly a hurricane, could form, both government and private forecasters say.

Even though it was described as being weak to moderate, this La Niña likely will have a greater impact on U.S. weather patterns in the winter months, after the hurricane season ends, NOAA officials said.

"The big concern this winter may be the persistence of drought across large parts of the already parched South," Michael Halpert, head of forecast operations and acting deputy director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, said in a statement.

For December through February, NOAA forecasters call for above-average temperatures over most of the country, including the Southeast. For the entire country, NOAA projects the winter will be 2.8 percent warmer than the 30-year normal but 1.3 percent cooler than last year.

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[Ptarmigan]

I agree that La Nina/El Nino plays a role. Also, we overlook North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), Pacific North American (PNA), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), monsoon, and Indian Ocean Dipole.