NOAA announced on July 9, 2009 that the climate phenomenon called El Niño has returned. The El Niño Southern Oscillation is characterized by low ocean surface winds along the Equatorial Pacific, generating warmer than average ocean temperatures. These warmer temperatures are visible in sea surface temperature anomaly data, such as is shown in this animation. What this means for Tahoe’s 09/10 season is yet to be seen, that is unless you count tonights expected snowfall as an early start to this years season.
