Chris Tomer, a highly respected mountain-climbing meteorologist from Denver, has recently sent out a detailed report concerning this year’s El Niño with some surprising results and bombshell predictions. Surface waters in the equatorial waters of the eastern Pacific have recently risen by 2 degrees Celsius (3.66 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal levels, and this is the definition of a Super El Niño. Furthermore, this is the earliest arrival of a Super El Niño by over a month ahead of the record, and surface water temperatures will probably rise to at least plus 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) by September, leading to some unusual consequences.
Just a reminder to the readers: El Niño is a name given by Peruvian fishermen to a natural phenomenon that causes warm tropical waters to wash ashore along the eastern Pacific coast near the equator. The counterpart current, called a La Niña, periodically occurs when cooler water comes ashore in the same region. Although irregular in cycle, El Niños occur every two to seven years and last for nine to 12 months. See: www.NOAA.gov. “Understanding El Niño.” By the way, last winter we were in a La Niña.
Normally, I take early predictions about the coming winter with that proverbial grain of salt, but Tomer makes a very good case for his predictions and several meteorological events seem to be lining up. According to Tomer, we’re going to be having robust monsoons, starting soon, going well into September. The monsoons will be supercharged by the southern jet stream lasting till at least January, with numerous atmospheric rivers deluging the Southwestern U.S. (including Colorado).
Causing this, the southern jet stream will be grabbing water from the eastern Pacific Ocean, escorting moisture, slamming it into the Sierras and into our region. The problem is that it looks like it will not only be very wet, but also warmer, and we may be seeing rain, rather than snow, except at high elevations. His prediction calls for precipitation anomalies well above normal and off the charts in January 2027. This will also affect the Gulf states and into New England with wetter weather. Surprisingly, western Canada will be cooler and drier than normal. Tomer also predicts we’ll be having monsoons in Colorado by Wednesday, July 15.
By the time you read this, you’ll know if at least one of his predictions is correct, and we’ll know more by September. I’ll remind you.
Bruce Bartleson
Gunnison
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