Note: The video in the player above is taken from a previous report.
After a year that saw persistently high, record-breaking temperatures across the country, conditions across the country could change by the end of the year, according to the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center.
The NWS issued a La Niña watch for later this year, as an ongoing El Niño pattern shows signs of weakening.
The El Niño pattern may have peaked in January, with its effects slowly beginning to fade, according to forecasters.
According to the alert issued Thursday. Forecasters believe there is a 79% chance that the world will shift from the El Niño pattern, which has had a major impact on weather conditions in the United States and around the world, to a more neutral pattern during the spring months.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China also believes there is a 55% chance that the world will quickly move into a La Niña pattern between June and August, according to the monitoring released Thursday.
So what does all this mean for us?
As for the impacts on Illinois, researchers say summer tends to be warmer and drier than usual during a La Niña pattern, while fall tends to see cooler and wetter conditions.
This contrasts with the climate during an El Niño pattern, which results in slightly milder summers in the Chicago area while temperatures in most parts of the United States were above average in the summer.
Winters tend to be warmer during La Niña, but Illinois is more vulnerable to cold snaps and heavy snow, according to researchers.
Although La Niña could help moderate much of the rapid warming we saw last year due in part to the El Niño pattern, it could also cause widespread drought in the western United States, and could lead to more hurricanes in the Atlantic as well. . According to the TV programme.
According to the University of IllinoisLa Niña patterns occur when sea surface temperatures along the equator in the Pacific Ocean are unusually cold, compared to the unusually warm sea surface temperatures that occur during an El Niño pattern.
Trade winds become stronger during this period Events according to NOAAThis pushes warm water towards Asia, which then allows cold water to rise to the surface near the west coast of the Americas.
As the waters in the ocean cool, the jet stream pushes northward, funneling heavy rain toward the West Coast, but ultimately causing drought conditions in the southwestern and southern United States.
