Fact, or Fiction? Weather Edition

Read Time: 3 minutes
January 27, 2023
Dr. Zach Hansen
Weather Science Team Manager at Climate

A sneak peek into the year ahead

There’s a chill in the air, the trees are bare, and your fields are resting. Winter has crested, and your planning is in full swing. But what does 2023 have in store for us? Is it really snowing less than it used to? Is winter truly the most predictable season? And will La Niña stick around for the fourth year in a row? What’s a fact, and what’s fiction?

 

1. Winter is the most predictable season
Fact

or

Fiction
2. Global warming will cause complications with irrigation before temperature-related complications
Fact

or

Fiction
3. 2023 will bring another La Niña year
Fact

or

Fiction

Out with the old, in with the new

So what does an El Niño year mean for farmers? We can reasonably assume it will be approximately the opposite of a La Niña year. If things remain very classic, Pacific Northwest winters will likely see somewhat warmer and drier weather, while the South and Southeast will see wetter and cooler conditions. And the Midwest can expect around average rainfall, with perhaps slightly warmer temperatures. As always, it’s important to keep in mind that things are never perfectly typical or predictable, and we will continue to do our best to provide you with the most up-to-date information as we enter into this year. From all of us at Climate, Happy New Year and happy planning!

 


About the Author

Dr. Zach Hansen is the Weather Science Team Manager at Climate. He has spent nearly three years at Climate, in a variety of roles all centered on weather. In his current role, he and his team work to ensure that weather data is used effectively in predictive models that help growers make a variety of decisions. Zach received his undergraduate degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of Utah, and his PhD in Atmospheric Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to joining Climate, Zach worked as a research scientist at Nanjing University in China, where he examined the life cycles and characteristics of thunderstorms on a variety of scales.