El Nino

I wonder how many people know what El Nino is? Also do they know about La Nina? They have a great deal to do with controlling our weather for the year. We have been in La Nina, which is a cooling of the ocean and we have had really bad winters, less hurricanes and drought in places like the West Coast. It has been in control and doesn't seem to let go. But now scientists think the ocean is beginning to warm. But they aren't sure but it could be El Nino and that would be normal rain for the West Coast and they may get rid of their drought. That would be great as they provide the largest share of vegetables for the USA. It would, however, mean more hurricanes next winter and a milder winter for the midwest. We would love that part of it as we have humungous snow piles built up from trying to keep roads and driveways clear enough to drive on.

Rain Storm

At last we are getting Spring rain.  We are also having thunder and lightning.  There is a great deal of wind with it too.  The sky is really dark so may rain all day.  We need the rain to settle all the winter dirt.  Will get rid of the last of the snow piles.  Tulips are up and will be happy to have rain after the beautiful sunshine yesterday.  We have been in drought for a long time so the rain is very welcome.

Rain!

It is raining here!  We haven't really seen much rain which is a good thing when it is below zero.  But it is above zero now so it should help take down some of the snow.  It has been raining off and on since last night.  The deck was really wet and some got in the mailbox and got the paper a bit wet.  But we are glad to see the moisture.  I know it will run off but it is March and soon Spring will officially be here.  Then the frost in the ground will go and the rain can soak in.  They say we need at least 16 inches of rain to make up for the bad drought we have had here.

Drought

Man parts of the country are experiencing long periods of drought. Our family in Wisconsin lives in kind of a pocket where it rains all around them but no rain for them. It has been quite dry here now for a couple of weeks but the 10 day outlook looks wet after we get past Labor Day. The crops just have not had enough heat either to mature so they are behind. The farmers are praying we won't have an early frost. That could be devastating to the yields.

Drought is a Serious Problem in the Southeast USA

Drought could dry up coolant water and force nuclear plants to shut down. Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water the need to operate.Utility officials say such shutdowns probably wouldn't result in blackouts. But they could lead to shockingly higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region's utilities may be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other energy companies.