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GOVERNOR GEORGE V. VOINOVICH HAS DESIGNATED THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 9TH THROUGH THE 15TH AS WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK. WINTER WEATHER IN THE OHIO VALLEY CAN OFTEN BE DANGEROUS...AND EVEN LIFE-THREATENING AT TIMES. THE PURPOSE OF WINTER WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK IS TO PROVIDE YOU WITH INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY WHEN THREATENED BY ADVERSE WINTER WEATHER.

THIS PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT IS THE FIFTH IN A SERIES OF 7 TO BE SENT OUT EACH DAY THIS WEEK CONCERNING WINTER WEATHER PREPAREDNESS. IT IS ADVISED THAT THE MEDIA AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICALS RECEIVING THIS INFORMATION USE IT TO DEVELOP THEIR OWN RELEASES AND STORIES ON WINTER WEATHER. THESE STATEMENTS SHOULD BE SAVED AND REFERRED TO WHEN WINTER WEATHER THREATENS OUR AREA.

...TODAYS TOPIC :EL NIÑO YEARS AND OHIO'S WINTER WEATHER...

THE EL NIÑO REFERS TO THE WARMING OF OCEAN WATERS IN THE EASTERN EQUATORIAL PACIFIC OCEAN RELATIVE TO A LONG TERM AVERAGE. THIS POOL OF WARM WATER IS A LARGE SOURCE OF HEAT ENERGY. THIS HEAT ENERGY IMPACTS THE WEATHER IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD. THIS WINTER IS AN EL NIÑO WINTER.

THE EL NIÑO OCCURS ON AVERAGE EVERY TWO TO SEVEN YEARS. WORLDWIDE...THE EL NIÑO HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH MAJOR DROUGHTS IN AUSTRALIA AND AFRICA AND FLOODS IN NORTHWESTERN SOUTH AMERICA. IN THE UNITED STATES...THE EL NIÑO HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH WINTER FLOODS IN CALIFORNIA...WET WINTERS IN THE GULF STATES... AND MILD AND DRY CONDITIONS IN THE MIDWEST AND NORTHERN PLAINS.

SNOWFALL AND AVERAGE WINTER TEMPERATURE WERE LOOKED AT FOR 12 EL NI˜NO YEARS DATING BACK TO 1941. FOR OHIO...EL NIÑO WINTERS TEND TO BE WARMER...AND LESS SNOWY THAN NORMAL.

LOOKING AT THE CLIMATIC NUMBERS FOR 12 EL NIÑO WINTERS OBSERVED FROM 1941 THRU THE PRESENT:

             AVERAGE AVERAGE MAJOR EL NIÑO WINTER  
             WINTER  EL NIÑO      (1982-83) 
            SNOWFALL SNOWFALL     SNOWFALL
                  
CINCINNATI    23.4    19.6            6.6 
DAYTON        27.5    21.5            5.5
COLUMBUS      27.9    20.6           11.5

DAYTON AND COLUMBUS BOTH RECEIVED LESS THAN AVERAGE SNOWFALL IN 10 OF THE 12 EL NIÑO WINTERS. CINCINNATI RECEIVED LESS THAN AVERAGE SNOWFALL IN 9 OF THE 12 WINTERS.

IN THE LAST MAJOR EL NIÑO EVENT (1982-83)...SNOWFALL WAS MUCH LESS THAN THE LONG TERM AVERAGE AND TEMPERATURES WERE AROUND 5.5 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE AT CINCINNATI AND COLUMBUS AND AROUND 3.7 DEGREES ABOVE AVERAGE AT DAYTON.

FORECASTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION CENTER SUGGEST A WINTER WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION. IT MUST BE STATED THAT NOT ALL EL NIÑO WINTERS HAVE RESULTED IN THESE SIMILAR CONDTIONS. THE WINTERS OF 1976-77 AND 1969-70...WERE EL NIÑO YEARS WHERE MORE SNOW THAN NORMAL WAS OBSERVED. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON EL NIÑO CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT TWO VERY INFORMATIVE SITES:

  1. The NOAA El Niño Home Page
  2. El Niño Page from The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory's Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean (TAO) Project

Friday's subject will be WINTER WEATHER DRIVING.