The Browning Blog: El Niño and the Mayan Curse (And Blessing) March 31, 2016 by Historical Climatologist Evelyn Browning-Garriss & Climatological Analyst James J. Garriss March was a very soggy month. Both the West and the South, including Texas were hit with heavy flooding precipitation. Blame it on El Niño. The massive pool of hot water in the Tropical Pacific is creating giant “atmospheric rivers” of moisture that are pouring north. In California, the giant torrent of rain and snow goes by the harmless name “The Pineapple Express.” In Texas, it’s the “Mayan Express.” Both bring needed rainfall and disastrous floods. You’ve seen the satellite pictures. The hot air rises in the tropics until it hits the cold upper atmosphere and rains down again. If the winds are right, the storm begins to rotate and form a hurricane. Most of the time, however, the spinning of the Earth slings the moisture away from the equator toward the poles. These huge sprays of moisture are thousands of miles long, hundreds of miles wide and carry more water than any river in the world. They are called atmospheric rivers and bring enormous amounts of precipitation. Because El Niños are so hot, they generate a lot of atmospheric rivers. After years of Texas drought, the tropical event brought relief. Last year, at the end of May and in early June, a single river from the Pacific swept up a wandering tropical storm in the Gulf and ended the drought in one spectacular series of storms. This winter, the storm brought heavy snow to West Texas. In March, the Mayan Express hit again, streaming through East Texas and Mississippi, through the Midwest to Massachusetts. The Mayan Express – June 2015 and March 2016 Unfortunately, atmospheric rivers are narrow and concentrate precipitation. It can bring floods and landslides and leave areas 200 miles away in drought. Agriculture and livestock need to store water between storms. Last year, the Southern Plains alternated between heavy rainfall and weeks of dry weather. Even now, as East Texas remains saturated, in danger of floods if there is any more rainfall, West Texas is dry, with parts at risk of moderate drought. Meanwhile most of the Midwest has excellent moisture for spring planting. History suggests that if the El Niño continues, there is a strong possibility that the Mayan Express could visit once more bringing the blessing and curse of abundant rainfall. How likely is this? This Friday’s Browning Bulletin will carry the full report.
What I would like to see is a well versed meteorologist with good software suggest how the Four Corners Region once had more rain fall. To me and my varied research the Anasazi had a plentiful supply of water and its loss is why their culture vanished. Now that would be a good research project and would go further, in my opinion, than the recent display of global warming hand wringers and just might help knowing what was coming next, unlikely but better than the current bunch of BSers.
If we take some of the pseudo-science out of the equation, it makes more sense. Hot air will move to replace cooler air. Climate trends have a tendency to repeat in cycles, but that's on average --we shouldn't be surprised to find bigger and nastier systems on a warming or cooling trend causing all sorts of trouble. The Earth is a living biosphere, a fantastic home for all living beings, and it is not a mechanical machine working on a steady timetable. Now, you folks are smart enough to know these things, but the way the media portrays the weather, one might think we're hearing this for the first time.
No doubt,and the reason the Babble of the Media should be ignored. An example for/from me is the "Canned Explanation" a Park Ranger gave for the Kiva in a Pueblo Indian village, Statement was "these used for religious ceremonies". I look around, see the nicely done stone work above as what appears to me a good summer home, I see the 6 Kivas buried below ground with an excellent fire pit and ventilation as a great winter home for a family of 10 or so and I ask "So you think they needed 6 Kivas for ceremonies?" A pained expression came on his face as he said well that is what the experts say. Stirring the Pot a Bit I ask, "Have any of those experts spent a full four seasons living here as the Indians would have and if so where are the fire pits in those Pretty Summer Stone Cold Quarters? Or did they live the winter months in those nice warm Kivas? As any Cop would do his next statement was "Moving along we see the Food Storage Area. I'm sure you understand that the fix is in and what the AUTHORITIES say is just how most live. Moving along the sheeple to the next kill zone.
