Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 22, 1993 TAG: 9310220046
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Short
And that could upset the world's weather for another year, scientists said.
El Nino, which starts with a temperature increase in the western Pacific, normally occurs twice a decade and lasts 12 to 18 months, University of Miami oceanographer Donald Hansen said Thursday.
The current El Nino began in early 1991 and was forecast to end in July 1992. But it's now almost 3 years old - and Pacific waters are heating up again.
"It's unlike anything we've seen among the El Ninos," Hansen said. "Maybe it's not just an El Nino, but is really signaling that two or three years ago we had a relatively persistent change in the climate."
Scientists caution that data on El Nino is limited. The phenomenon has been studied scientifically only since World War II, although meteorologists examining historical records have traced it back a century.
El Nino could still fizzle. Henry Diaz, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecaster in Boulder, Colo., said current long-range forecasts predict a return to a normal winter climate. But those forecasting models erred in predicting El Nino would end in 1992, he cautioned.
by CNB