Odd Weather

So far this is turning out to be the Year Without A Summer in the Sacramento area. Yes, it's warm, but unless there was a hot streak when I was in Florida, it seems like it's been weeks since we've had a triple-digit day. Not that I'm complaining, of course.

And now there's hope that we might actually get some rain this winter:

El Nino is back.

Government scientists said Thursday that the periodic warming of water in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which can affect weather around the world, has returned...

In general, El Nino conditions are associated with increased rainfall across the east-central and eastern Pacific and with drier than normal conditions over northern Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

A summer El Nino can lead to wetter than normal conditions in the intermountain regions of the United States and over central Chile. In an El Nino year there tend to be more Eastern Pacific hurricanes and fewer Atlantic hurricanes.