El Niño Looks to be Real

We’ve all been hearing about the developing El Niño. And as we all know, this type of warning is sometime akin to the whole Y2K mess (for some of our millennial readers, please look that up) that was falsely predicted and never came to fruition. So being the lifestyle writer that I am, I decided to check it out for you.

I took a brief gander at several scientific factors, but also some very practical ones that often are as good or better predictors and they all point to the fact that the El Niño is a very real development. And while no one knows for sure, it could be a sizable event. In fact, key indicators would indicate it could be the biggest one since 1977, and that would be huge indeed.

The water temperature is somewhere between two and three degrees warmer in the Pacific Ocean than normal. This may not seem like much, but it is huge for the massive ‘pond’ which is responsible for the bulk of the western United States’ weather. This is further evidenced by the fact that there have recently been multiple hurricanes in the Pacific; currently there are three (yes three) category 4 hurricanes churning out there. For you who skipped you weather class in college, a category 4 has sustained winds of 131-155 miles-per hour. To compare, Hurricane Katrina was a category 3 and we all know what happened there.

But more fascinating are the real effects El Niños have on sea life. For example, the Hammerhead Sharks that were seen right offshore at LaJolla Shores have been attributed to the El Niño. So were the millions of crabs that washed up on shore a few months ago. This weekend, I was out on San Diego Bay and couldn’t believe the amazing fishing that is happening off shore as we speak, both the volume caught and the species being brought in. Again due to, well, you know…

So stay tuned to sdentertainer.com. There are few lifestyle elements that affect our lives more than weather. And even here in America’s Finest City, a little (or maybe a lot) of rain must fall.