[sulam]

The article says it is an El Niño year, but that's wrong. Last year was, but this year has been extremely weird, in that we had more rain than we've ever gotten in a recorded El Niño year despite normal water temps in the tropical Eastern Pacific. Which is great, but makes me wonder what our climate models make of things!

[jfoutz]

Global warming means there is more energy in the system. It's like turning up the volume. Imagine a driven pendulum, it's just adding a bigger kick so the whole thing swings farther and faster. Of course I'm a layman, but I think experts would generally agree with my simplistic metaphors.

And, yeah, this is pretty much what was forecast [1]. The risks are coping with the long dry spells, and the heavy rain. 5 inches of rain in a day can be ugly if you're not ready.

[1]http://news.stanford.edu/2017/03/21/heavy-california-rains-p...

[setr]

Correction: the article actually says "But this year’s El Niño-like winter..."

Its not claiming this is an El Niño year

[sulam]

Thanks, I read it too quickly!