Is El Niño causing Colorado’s summer heat wave?
No.
El Niño is not expected to affect weather conditions in the continental U.S. until later this year.
Summer impacts from El Niño in the Western U.S. are typically very minor, and are weak to nonexistent to Colorado, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experts say. The U.S. will likely start to feel El Niño’s impacts this fall, with the greatest effects coming this winter.
Though the Southwest is expected to experience lower temperatures and greater moisture, Colorado lies at a transition point of the phenomenon’s effects. The state’s southwestern corner has the greatest chance of experiencing cooler and wetter conditions, while the rest of Colorado is more likely to experience warmer and drier weather this fall and winter.
NOAA declares El Niño when eastern tropical Pacific water temperatures rise 0.5℃ above normal for at least seven consecutive months.
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