Futuris Company (FTRS)

[sth1]

New spill factor: La Nina could add to storms
Ocean system forming, adding to already high Gulf hurricane threat

updated 7/8/2010 11:21:48 AM ET
Share Print Font:
NEW YORK — A La Nina weather pattern, the opposite of its more infamous cousin El Nino, will likely ramp up in July and August, potentially boosting hurricane formation in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Climate Prediction Center forecast on Thursday.
"La Nina conditions are likely to develop during July-August 2010," the CPC, an office under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stated in its monthly update.
La Nina spawns colder-than-normal waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. In contrast, El Nino is an abnormal warming of those waters. Both wreak havoc in the weather from the U.S. to India and occur every three to four years.
The emergence of a La Nina is of particular concern to the oil industry in the Gulf, already reeling from the massive oil spill caused by a leaking BP well.
Several forecasters have said the number of hurricanes striking the United States increases sharply during La Nina years and shrinks when El Nino hits.
Increased wind shear in an El Nino tends to rip apart embryonic storms in the Atlantic basin and Caribbean Sea. But those winds are limited in a La Nina year, allowing storms to flourish.
Last May, NOAA predicted this Atlantic storm season could be the worst since the record-breaking 2005, when Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, Hurricane Wilma slammed into Florida's citrus groves, and Hurricane Rita hit hard the oil rigs in the Gulf and refineries along the Gulf Coast.
NOAA forecast up to 23 named storms, of which 14 could power up to hurricanes. A record 15 hurricanes struck in 2005. June has already produced the first hurricane in 15 years, Alex, which dissipated in Mexico last weekend.
Storms are a particular concern in the Gulf, which holds about 27 percent of the U.S.'s oil and 15 percent of its natural gas, according to the federal Department of Energy.
Corn Belt could see dry spell
La Nina also poses a threat to crops in the U.S. Midwest and in countries like agricultural powerhouses Brazil, Argentina and India.