El Niño: ‘One storm after another like a conveyor belt’
Early snow in Lake Tahoe has people cross country skiing at lake level. Photo/LTN
By Rosanna Xia and Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times
The strong El Niño in the Pacific Ocean is becoming even more powerful, setting the stage for an unusually wet winter in California that could bring heavy rains by January, climate experts said.
The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said El Niño is already strong and mature, and is forecast to continue gaining strength. This El Niño is expected to be among the three strongest on record since 1950.
Generally, El Niño doesn’t peak in California until January, February and March, Patzert said. That’s when Californians should expect “mudslides, heavy rainfall, one storm after another like a conveyor belt.”