SAN ANTONIO -- Scientists from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
National Weather Service, and dozens of meteorologists were in San Antonio Thursday to talk about one subject - El Nino.
The group discussed El Nino as well as what our weather is going to look like in the upcoming months
An El Nino pattern usually means cooler-than-normal and wetter weather for us.
"They don't expect it to be a strong El Nino event, which will give us a higher probability of giving us more rain," explained Paul Yura of the National Weather Service. "But even a weak to a moderate El Nino, which is what is forecasted, will still give us that above increased chance of rain."
That means we may see some relief for our drought-stricken area.
"The drought is still ongoing despite the rain we got the past couple of weeks," added Yura. "We're still way below normal, and we're going to need this El Nino pattern to give us some very beneficial rain."
The recent rain has lifted San Antonio out of the exceptional category. But we are still in the extreme category.
According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, much of South Central Texas is still experiencing extreme or exceptional drought conditions. Exceptional is the worst possible ranking and parts of our area still fall into that category. However, the outlook is hopeful.
A downside to more rain is flash flooding, which our area is prone to having.
