Spring Weather Outlook Pt 2

Spring Weather Outlook Pt 2

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. Weather conditions, good or bad, are something growers have to deal with each and every year. And, as our La Nina weather repeat from last year lingers, what are forecasters expecting?

State Climatologist Nick Bond says La Nina weather patterns have certain tendencies that we can usually count on ...

BOND ... "Except for the very strong ones, the strong La Ninas and the really strong El Ninos, that have quite a predictable, reliable response. Sometimes the weak events have just as big or bigger impact on our weather as our more moderate events."

Bond says last year's weather turned out pretty good for some producer, like the wine grape growers, but predicting if this year will be similar is tricky ...

BOND ... "We don't have a great deal of skill, you know, the further out we go, but we do have some predictive skill for the summer months and they look to be on the warm side right now. Not necessarily torrid like 2015 or so, but that's probably pretty good, it sounds like, for the wine growers."

But, Bond says those MAY not be the best of conditions for everyone ...

BOND ... "I know there can be, sometimes, too much of a good thing. And, my understanding was, for the wheat farmers, they were delayed getting into their fields and sometimes there can actually be too much water even in the dryer parts of the west."

Bond says as wildfire season looms just months away, they're also researching ways to better predict storms and other weather conditions that might contribute to the number and severity of those fires.

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