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Weather expert is optimistic La Nina is fading away

A weather scientist says he doesn’t believe the current La Nina weather pattern will complete its third straight year. 

Eric Snodgrass with Nutrien Ag Solutions says the La Nina is fading but is still influencing the jet stream, meaning more snow and cold temperatures this winter. He says, “We tend to do okay on winter snowpack, although it tends to get drier the farther you get away to the south and west, so this is not a bad forecast if you like snow but it is one where, if you hate cold weather, we’re going to have quite a bit of it this winter.”

Snodgrass says he expects the jet stream to spend more time over the upper Midwest, and that the La Nina will turn into an ElNino pattern by spring, bringing some much-needed moisture to parts of North America. “My anticipation is that by spring, because of these forecasts, we will see our current drought picture which is at 80% drop down likely to around 60%.”

And, he says history shows 2023 could be a good year for farmers. “If we eliminate the rough soil moisture conditions and then go into El Nino by spring and summer, historically, that correlates with above-average precipitation, which means next year could be a very good year for our customer growers.”

Snodgrass discussed the long-range forecast during Compeer’s recent GrainVantage program.

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