After we returned home to Hamlin, several questions preyed on my mind for the rest of the day. Resolved to find answers, I spent most of Sunday and Monday in research, and here is what I learned. I ll call it Meteorology 101 or Learning to Take the Heat. Some of you might already be conversant with this information. La Ni a is the name given to a weather phenomenon in the western Pacific noted for water temperatures cooler than normal.
Meteorologists often refer to it as cooling episodes, and sometimes it can last for years.
The current La Ni a began in 1998 and shows little sign of abatement, according to the experts. La Ni a, with its cool waters and thus cool air over the surface of the waters, pushes the jet stream to the northern part of the hemisphere, far north of where we live. According to George Flickinger, chief meterorlogist with KTXS in Abilene, that is the primary cause of our drought. Lack of rain means more sunshine, and more sunshine means more heat, and more heat means an intensification of the high pressure dome over our part of the country, and so on and on. As the dome strengthens, it becomes more difficult to be removed by a low pressure or storm system.