 Poster: A snowHead
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Anyone weather experts care to explain these in simple terms, and how they potentially affect winter snow conditions??
cheers,
Greg
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Big hot wind melt snow. 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I can't tell you much about the first two but the third term is used to refer to the fact that whatever the weather men say, you just got to make the most of the conditions that turn up
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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kitenski,
I'll try and keep it simple but it may not be that concise!
They both refer to conditions in the eastern pacific along the west coast of S. America
La Nina is 'normal' conditions where winds moving along the equator push warm water to the west. This allows cold water from the deep ocean to rise up the west coast of S. America.
El Nino refers to when the body of warm water does not move westwards, instead it stays along the west coast of S. America. This traps the cold water below it.
This has lots of implications on the local climate (e.g. more thunderstorms and rainfall) and its influence extends to the global climate (more sea ice in the Antarctic, it affects North American winters) . For more info in a relatively simple format stick 'el nino' in wikipedia.
Hope that was of some use
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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kitenski, I found this link http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/lanina_new_faq.html which seems to explain El Nino/La Nina as extreme ends of the Southern Oscillation. La Nina has cooler than normal surface sea temperatures, and La Nina warmer temps. Opposite ends of the scale i think.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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cheers Helen and NZK, very useful...now what affect does it have on European skiing???
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A colleague of mine is getting all excited about having talked to weather buffs who say that the La Nina will result in a lot of snowfall this winter in Europe.
(Well we can dream, can't we?)
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weather buffs who say that the La Nina will result in a lot of snowfall this winter in Europe.
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I'll go for that. I'm sitting at a modest 1550m with the temperature, which has been low all day, now fallen below 4 degrees, so I'm ready to believe in a wet and cold winter. It's certainly a wet and cold summer; I have just been to Albertville and spent a small fortune on new carpet to be fitted before the winter.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| horizon wrote: |
A colleague of mine is getting all excited about having talked to weather buffs who say that the La Nina will result in a lot of snowfall this winter in Europe.
(Well we can dream, can't we?) |
I thought the usual analysis for El Nino/La Nina years was something technically plausible but useless:
"There is a 50% chance of greater than average snowfall"
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last year there was an el nino, we had a bad/ish well warm at least winter.
year before was an la nina, we had a great year
year before that was again an el nino we had a very dry but fairly cold winter, untill april!
i dont know about before then, but i reckon its got a lot to do with it.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Where' brian when you need him? 
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brian
brian
Guest
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Helen Beaumont, in Switzerland
... but basically if anyone tells you they can predict European snowfall conditions based on Pacific currents in the Southern Hemisphere they're a liar of epic proportions !
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Meto experimental model forecast fro this winter due out tommorrow.
Should give some preliminary indications about where to holiday next season.
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You know it makes sense.
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brian, hello!!! Might have guessed really.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Not sure about Europe, but I was living in Seattle during the last strong La Nina. Mt. Baker set the world record for snow in a year, Crystal Mountain had skiing well into June (usually closes in April), and in Seattle it rained 98 out of 100 consecutive days.
I also tried to ski at Whistler during the last strong El Nino. Not recommended.
If I'm not mistaken, the effects seem to be somewhat reversed for the Sierra and the southern Rockies.
So...
La Nina: Pacific storms track farther north. El Nino: Pacific storms track farther south.
So I guess this means you should book a flight to Vancouver in January.
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Poster: A snowHead
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