In life, there are times when we're willing to believe that people are generally competent. How else would we get to eat at such incredible restaurants or observe thought-provoking art? Then, there are times when it just seems like everyone is making shit up. That's right, we're talking about El Niño.
Haven't we been through enough with this storm system? First, we were told that the threatening weather pattern was "too big to fail." Then, on top of that hype, we learned that the ocean temperatures indicated that it could be the largest on record. Mid-December rolled around with not a drop of rain on the ground and, guess what, officials conveniently chimed in to tell us that the storms were running "behind schedule." No kidding. But to their credit, rain finally made an appearance in early January. Since then, nothing. So where did El Niño go?
Climatologist Bill Patzert told Curbed LA that we shouldn't get too comfortable. With winds slowly dying down, the ocean temperature will be able to heat up again, essentially allowing El Niño storms to recharge. He calls the expected upcoming precipitation El Niño's "second peak."
History shows that the strongest storms could still be on the horizon. Take the two largest storms on record as examples: In 1997-98, the storms hit hardest in February, and during the winter of 1982-83 the storms peaked in January and March.
Sure, these storms are dangerous, create mudslides and cause millions of dollars worth of damage, but as long at we get our LA River inner tube race, bring on the rain!