Super El Niño Will Impact Minnesota This Winter

I tucked my lawnmower away for the year and took my snowblower out of storage this past weekend. The snowblower started effortlessly with just one pull, which was very satisfying. #DadLife

The noise it made caught the attention of my neighbor who came over to talk about winter, joking that we weren't going to get any snow because he had just bought a new snowmobile. I actually don't mind snow, but I'm not a fan of the brutal cold and nasty winds that Minnesota often experiences.

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Forecasters are now calling for a Super El Niño in Minnesota which will definitely impact our temps and the amount of snow we receive.

What is El Niño?

El Niño is a phenomenon characterized by warmer-than-usual water in the Pacific Ocean, causing a shift in the Pacific jet stream. This change in atmospheric conditions impacts global weather patterns, resulting in flooding, droughts, and unusually high or low temperatures in various regions.

The change in the jet stream leads to a dryer and warmer winter for some parts of the county and a wetter than normal winter for other regions.

Super El Niño! What This Means For Minnesota This Winter

El Niño is good for those that don't like nasty cold temps. NOAA says our region should experience warmer than average temps this winter. In fact, the entire northern part of the country appears to be in for a mild winter.

Bring Me The News looked at precipitation totals during El Niño years and found,  "most of Minnesota sees slightly below normal precipitation (snow and rain) during an El Nino winter while far southern Minnesota – including the Twin Cities, Mankato and Rochester – and the western half of Wisconsin, tend to see above normal precipitation."