The climate conditions of the La Niña weather phenomenon continue to persist, with a 75% chance of transitioning to ENSO neutrality by March, the US Climate Prediction Center (CPC) said on Thursday (8).
“Atmospheric anomalies in the tropical Pacific Ocean remained consistent with La Niña. For most of the month, easterly wind anomalies were present in the central equatorial Pacific, and upper-level westerly wind anomalies continued in the equatorial Pacific,” the US weather agency added.
Also read:
Take advantage of the stock market rise!
La Niña is part of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate cycle, which affects water temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.
La Niña results in lower water temperatures, increasing the chance of flooding and drought, which can affect harvests. When ENSO is neutral, water temperatures remain around the average level, which leads to more stable weather and possibly better harvests.
“The current La Niña is weak and ENSO is expected to return to neutral in February or March. There is a chance that El Niño conditions could develop in the late Northern Hemisphere summer,” said Jason Nicholls, lead international analyst at AccuWeather, adding that there are no widespread drought conditions in global growing areas.
Continues after advertising
Also read:
Donald Keeney, agricultural meteorologist at Vaisala Weather, said “the transition back to neutrality will likely equate to wetter conditions in Argentina, which will favor winter wheat next winter.”
It would also result in wetter conditions in the central and southern U.S. Plains in late summer, which would result in a better outlook for late crop development of hard red winter wheat, corn and soybeans, Keeney added.
