La Niña expected for a third straight year. Here’s what that means for winter in Whatcom
A weather pattern that usually means a cold, wet winter for the Northwest is giving every indication that it will hang around for a third straight rainy season.
That’s a rare occurrence, and it could mean more snow for the mountains, which is good news for winter sports enthusiasts.
In addition, a heavier snowpack would be a boon for farmers and salmon that depend on melting snow to provide water in summer.
But it could also mean there’s a greater chance for the kind of drenching rainstorms that caused the devastating floods that Whatcom County has seen the past two winters.
“Above-normal rainfall is certainly part of the equation,” said meteorologist Dana Felton at the National Weather Service in Seattle.
“I don’t want to overstate it, but it adds to the chance of it happening,” Felton told The Bellingham Herald.
Meteorologists at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center issued a La Niña advisory last week, meaning that the odds favor a third straight La Niña.
La Niña a cooling of Pacific Ocean surface temperatures, usually means colder temperatures and more rain for Northwest Washington.
In the 70 years that the Climate Prediction Center has been studying the La Niña/El Niño weather cycle, there have been three times that La Niña lingered for three winters, Felton said.
Each time — 1954-56, 1973-75 and 1998-2000 — the Northwest experienced cold winters, he said.
In the winter of 1998-99, the Mt. Baker Ski Area measured 1,140 inches of snow, setting a world record.
“Those flood-prone areas should have precautions ready to go,” Felton said.
