El Niño season is here in western Massachusetts

The weather pattern El Niño has officially shifted into season. Storm Team Meteorologist Alexa Bianco joins us live in studio with how this will impact us here locally. Yes, Christina and Ciara, we were in our La Niña pattern this past winter, but now we've shifted into El Niño for the summertime. El Niño and La Niña are opposite phases of a natural climate pattern that begins in the tropical Pacific Ocean. During El Niño, ocean waters near the equator become warmer than average, which can shift weather patterns around the globe. La Niña is the opposite, with cooler-than-average waters developing across the same region. And now, this summer, we're in an El Niño season. You see warmer and generally drier summers, but it tends to have less correlation during the summer months. El Niño has its, and so in general, La Niña, El Niño, those tend to have a greater influence on temperature and precipitation patterns. It's stronger during the wintertime. Those changes in ocean temperature may seem small, but they can have major impacts on rainfall, temperatures, droughts, flooding, and even hurricane activity. In general, El Niño tends to suppress Atlantic hurricanes, while La Niña often creates a more favorable environment for storms to develop. New England and the Valley continue to see persistent dry conditions that could possibly worsen. From Springfield to Greenfield, we have seen a moderate drought for quite a while now. And on the other hand, hurricane activity is predicted to be below normal this season, but southern New England is due for one. We haven't had one. The last landfalling hurricane was Hurricane Bob, and that's back in the early 90s. So we're long overdue, but certainly El Niño tends to suppress hurricane activity. It doesn't rule it out.