Abstract
CALIFORNIA is experiencing the worst drought in modern history, and there is much concern and speculation about future rainfall prospects. We recently succeeded in relating South Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SST) to rain in northeastern Brazil1, and here we use similar methods to relate sea surface temperatures over the North Pacific Ocean to rainfall in California. We found December SST in the north-east Pacific off Washington to have a limited but definite predictive value, and to account for about 45% of the variation in California rainfall for the period February–April.
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References
Markham, C. G. & McLain, D. R. Nature 265, 320–323 (1977).
Namias, J. Mon. Weather Rev. 104, 1107–1121 (1976); Preprint Volume Sixth Conference on Weather Forecasting and Analysis, 13–16 (American Meteorological Society, 1976); Proc. WMO/IAMAP Symp. Long-term Climatic Fluctuations, 331–340 (WMO, 1976); J. mar. Res. 33, 53–60 (1975).
Sci. News 111, 100–101 (1977).
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MARKHAM, C., McLAIN, D. Pacific sea-surface temperature related to rain in California. Nature 269, 501–504 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/269501a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/269501a0
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