Is Our Active Weather Due To A La Nina Event?

With Atmospheric Rivers soaking the Mother Lode and Blizzard Warnings pounding the Sierra Nevada, are we seeing the effects of a La Nina event?

KCRA 3 Meteorologist Tamara Berg was Wednesday’s KVML “Newsmaker of the Day”.

At the beginning of the Fall and Winter, conditions were favorable for a La Nina event,” said Berg, “But going forward conditions are going back to neutral, meaning that things could go either way. It will be a 50/50 split. We could end with either a great Winter or a not-so-great Winter.

Berg said, “A short range forecast is what we do best. We can study atmospheric conditions over the Pacific Ocean and identify an El Nino or an El Nina event and showcase what that traditionally means for the next few months, but it is a showcase of tradition and not a specific forecast.

The Mother Lode offers specific challenges when trying to forecast the weather, according to Berg.

“Both Tuolumne and Calaveras counties run from the east end of the Northern San Joaquin Valley, up to the crest of the Sierra Nevada. Based on topogrophy, elevation changes, canyons, terrain, climate and incoming storm systems, the Mother lode creates good challenges for our weather team,” said Berg. “We study, converse, apply math, apply science, sometimes disagree with one another and ultimately try to be as accurate as possible.”

Berg continued, “The Mother Lode is, what we call, micro-climate central. At times, there can be very small areas where the weather can change in a heartbeat. In one area there can be low snow, while in other areas it’s simply raining. We see this with cloud cover as well. It could be sunny in one place but just a few miles away, an area is locked in low clouds.”

Berg joined the KCRA 3 weather team in December of 2011

Her career began in Toledo, Ohio, as a weekend weather forecaster and weekday general assignment reporter and holds a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from Baldwin-Wallace College and recently finished her B.S. in Meteorology from Mississippi State University. Berg is also a member of the American Meteorological Society and National Weather Association.

Berg can be heard weekday mornings on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML, Star 92.7 FM and Today’s Country 93.5 FM KKBN.

The “Newsmaker of the Day” is heard every weekday morning at 6:45, 7:45 and 8:45 on AM 1450 and FM 102.7 KVML.