Forecasters who thought Washington was in for a warmer, drier El Niño winter say the outlook has shifted to a more neutral pattern.
But neutral doesn’t mean uneventful. National Weather Service meteorologist Ted Buehner said there’s a “good shot” of a “pineapple express” – a system of heavy rain coming from the direction of Hawaii that can hit like a fire hose. A three-day pineapple express storm system in November 2006 sent some Western Washington rivers to record high flows.
The neutral pattern is between the El Niño and La Niña patterns, which are named for Pacific Ocean warming or cooling and affect the weather worldwide.
Buehner and other Washington flooding experts spoke to Seattle-area media Tuesday about the winter outlook.
The Associated Press
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