Southwestern rains not due to El Nino

Although El Nino conditions have been confirmed in the South Pacific, they apparently are not the cause of the increased rainfall that the Southwestern U.S. is currently receiving. Meteorologists say that the current series of storms is due to a “blocking ridge” in Alaska and a shift in the jetstream in the Pacific. Here is an excerpt form the NOAA update:

“However, through December there has been a lack of persistent enhanced convection over the anomalously warm waters of the…