Two stories in news feeds this morning illustrate why climatologists look at weather patterns in other parts of the world to tell us what might be happening in the Southeast.
The Capital Weather Gang posted a story about how the unprecedented warm water off the West Coast of the US may help “lock in” the persistent ridge and trough pattern that has lingered over the US for many months. The ridge of high pressure on the West Coast has helped the drought in California to persist while bringing cool weather to the East under the trough. The post speculates that the warm water may cause the pattern to continue for the coming winter, which would bring cold weather to the Southeast for the next few months.
Mashable.com reported how Typhoon Nuri, a strong tropical storm near Japan, will become sucked into the jet stream winds and enhance the strength of the ridge and trough pattern across the US, increasing the chance of another cold outbreak in the east over the next few days. You can read that story here.
