La Nia is no more; La Nada is here

Adios La Niña and Hello La Nada.

Thursday, the Climate Prediction Center officially declared that the weak and short-lived La Niña had disappeared. The weak La Niña never really gained any strength, due in large part to the record breaking El Niño last year that shattered global temperature records. This La Niña goes down as one of the shortest and weakest on record and had little influence on our weather here in Mid-Missouri.

Typical weather patterns during a La Niña year for Missouri advertises a wet pattern, but we’ve been dry here for some time, with drought conditions already occurring. El Niño and La Niña are global weather patterns that affect weather across the world.

Now that La Niña has dissipated, long term models will not use either El Niño or La Niña to forecast the weather pattern. It’s fairly certain that as we head into the coming months, even without the influence of either, that above average temperatures will likely hold across the U.S.

Many global models are already hinting at another El Niño forming as we head into the summer, which could mean another warm winter, but as consecutive back to back El Niño, to La Niña, and then back has only happened three times in recorded history, NOAA forecasters are holding off on predicting another one.

So what does the La Nada phase mean for our weather here in Mid-Missouri? Well, research shows it could mean an increased chance of seeing springtime storms.

Later in March, the ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Team will debut their spring weather special and break down more about how La Nada will affect the local weather.