Thanks to El Nino

My wife and I went to Niagara Falls on Tuesday. The weather forecast was pretty decent for late January. We took Rt. 5 from Erie to Hamburg, NY. We took I 190 to Niagara Falls and crossed the Rainbow Bridge. The border crossing took 3 minutes. Earlier in the day, I booked a room at a Comfort Inn that stated it was close to Fallsview Casino. (a 3 minute walk) The rate of $54 included a hot breakfast. There was a twelve dollar fee to park at the hotel, therefore I parked our vehicle in the casino ramp.

The exchange at the casino gave us 137 Canadian for $100. My luck was good on Tuesday. We ended up over 100 Canadian ahead due to several small hits on slot machines. Fallsview sent us a voucher for two "free" buffets. They also give me tickets for shows in their theater. We have seen about five of them. All were enjoyable

The weather was great for late January. There was snow on the ground, however, the roads were bare. I know that parts of our country are having bad weather, but I am enjoying some aspects
of El Nino.

 

I'm from Williamsville originally, and there have been several days where the weather better there than it was here in DC. In most winters, there would be far fewer such days, maybe even none.

 

Hmmm... I thought an El Niño effects the Pacific - not the Atlantic.

Bill

 

While EL Nino itself is a change in the water temperature of the Pacific Ocean, the results are changed weather patterns throught the country.

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/enso/united-states-el-niño-impacts-0

 

It's effects are global.

 

Good to know. Makes sense.

Having said that, I've seen both heat waves and cold snaps back East attributed to El Nino. Keep in mind we've also had these strong variances in the East without an El Nino in effect. So, is it due to El Nino - maybe. Maybe not.

Bill

 

Wet years happen in droughts, temps increase incrementally in some places as they drop elsewhere. Humans making assertions as to anecdotal "evidence" in Mother Nature's big, subtle shifts is like a flea asserting it is in command of the dog upon which it resides.

 

I wag my tail in agreement.

Bill

 

lol

Not really jabbing you, Bill. You're not one of the folks who can't grasp how warming atmospheric conditions that significantly melt Arctic ice will cool things down a LOT in Western Europe.

 

Heck, I'm with you on Global Warming, Ken. I'm no denier. For, it's the trends that matter - and not individual events. Science prevails.

I'm simply skeptical of saying, "I was in Las Vegas this week and it was cold/hot/rainy/dry and it was due to... you know. For, when we relegate proof of overall patterns to a singular observation we're reducing it all to short-term anecdotes.

Sorry to be so compulsive about the topic. The physical sciences are near and dear to me and I obviously over-react if I see them misrepresented.

Carry on folks. Nothing to see here. The Geeks have derailed this topic enough.

Bill

 

Oh, like when folks get going nutty on the water thing in the West and then I get going.

P.S. It rained like a mutha here today. I AM giving credit to "the kid."

 

El Nino has nothing whatsoever to do with global warming.

 

El Nino keeps the jet stream straighter, in a normal winter we get a lot more artic clippers dropping across Lake Erie, picking up moisture and dumping a ton of snow on us. (I live by the op)
It was almost 60f here yesterday, it's been a great winter around here so far.

 

It's been warmer with El Nino. In Hawaii last year I think we had 13 hurricanes pass us, luckily they tracked away from us so we just got a lot of rain.

This year has been unusually warm also. Temps in the 70's at night. In other years I would be wearing socks by now because the temps would be more in the mid to low 60's and sometimes in the high 50's. Daytime temps so far in the mid 80's.

I'm kind of afraid that this summer will be another scorcher, guess I may have to get a new a/c since my old a/c isn't really working too well.

 

You guys really have it rough!

 

Yes, make fun of us but this was a big problem last year. We experienced high or record breaking heat most of last summer in addition to very high humidity. I had to go to the ER because I suffered from heatstroke. I didn't even realize that was my problem. I was at home watching tv and the next thing I was on the ground upchucking and suffering from stomach cramps. We hardly experience this kind of weather, we usually have our tropical winds to cool us off but last year there was none. Same as this year so far, not much winds to cool us off so the temps are higher. While the continental US experiences high heat regularly in Hawaii this hasn't really happened in the 50+ years I lived here so many of us weren't aware of the dangers.

I am afraid that this coming summer will also be a scorcher and humid as heck. Wish el Nino went away and we could go back to our regular weather but so far it doesn't look good. Some areas in the US are experiencing unusually warm temps while other areas are experiencing cold and stormy weather.

 

I don't think merlin was making fun of you.

 

Wasn't making fun of you, but sometimes having weather that might make you uncomfortable is the way almost everyone in the world lives. I didn't know that Hawaii doesn't usually have humidity, I thought islands in the tropics were always humid?

 

Agreed. Both are trends, not individual weather events. That's the point.

Bill

 

Except el-nino is not a trend but part of the regular oscillation of pacific ocean temperatures, once this passes the pacific will enter the La -nina phase which will be the opposite of el-nino. It just cycles back and forth, with every 5th or 6th cycle being a particularly strong one.