You’ve probably heard the name throughout various weather reports lately, El Niño. Meteorologists and weather experts are predicting that an El Niño winter has a 70-75% chance of development in the late fall / early winter.
Just because you hear about it constantly doesn’t make it any easier to understand what it truly is so we’re here to help fill you in on what it means for you this coming winter.
What is El Niño?
By definition, El Niño is an ocean-atmosphere climate interaction that is linked to periodic warming in the sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific. Even we look at that definition and still seem confused as to what actually is going on.
Simply put, this interaction is caused by rising sea temperatures. When these sea-surface temperatures are above average in the central and eastern Pacific it’s called an El Niño. This interaction has a dramatic impact on the weather to come all over the United States.
What does this mean for me?
Great question! Just knowing what El Niño is doesn’t help when you don’t know how it will affect you this coming winter.
During the winter typical El Niño conditions in the United States include wetter-than-average precipitation in the south and drier conditions in parts of the north. We’re also looking at an increase in average temperatures this coming winter as a result of this climate interaction.
El Niño is slated to bring a lot more precipitation than usual mixed in with warmer temperatures. That combination leads to a lot more winter time flooding than we are used to seeing. States, especially in the south, are going to see a lot more rain and have a higher risk of frequent flash flooding this coming winter.
Flooding is already the number one natural disaster in the United States. Flash floods happen anywhere at any time. With flooding already being this common and the El Niño conditions on the way it is extremely important to be prepared for wet conditions and potential flash flooding.
How should I prepared?
Preparing for flooding is simple with Quick Dam. Two of the more annoying aspects of flood preparation is the amount of space that supplies take up in your home and how much time & labor it takes to deploy these products in time to protect your property.
Quick Dam products are compact, lightweight and easy to use. Our water-activated Flood Bags & Flood Barriers are revolutionary alternatives to traditional sandbags. Replace thousands of pounds of sand and hours of manual labor by keeping these Flood Bags & Flood Barriers right in your home. Once water hits these products they swell up to the equivalent of a traditional sandbag.
If you’re looking for perimeter protection or doorway protection you can stock up on Water-Gates and FloodGates. These products provide significant protection against heavy flooding and are both easy to install and break down.
The most important part of flood preparation is to be proactive. Do not wait until flooding is on your doorstep to start thinking about preparing and protecting yourself because by then it will be too late.
This winter is predicted to be a wet one so consider this a very early call to action! Start preparing now and you’ll be happy you did when you’ve saved thousands of dollars in home repairs from water damage.
You can start preparing HERE
