Texas has seen widespread drought, wildfires, and it’s just getting too hot to handle outside. As we approach August, and the power grid is scraping by to cool us, Texans are worried about the weather this year. This can be attributed to what is called La Niña.
La Niña is the counterpart of El Nino. La Niña is a phenomenon where winds blow from South America to Southeast Asia in the Pacific Ocean, and warm waters are brought up to the surface near Indonesia, with cold waters on the surface of South America. “This small change in the ocean’s temperature can affect weather all over the world.”
“La Niña is a dreaded term in the ag industry as it’s a semi-unpredictable weather pattern that robs jet stream movement over the Midwest, resulting in too much or too little rain.” The jet stream moves more up north and down south has drier and hotter weather. We have been in La Niña since September 2020, and we are feeling the effects of what happens when that persists too long. In Central Texas we are experiencing drought and with the rising heat, the water is drying up, and the wildfires are persisting. Experts predict we might go into this into the winter season and La Niña looks like it might break off in 2023.
As La Niña persists, we are probably going to see hotter and drier weather the rest of the year, especially as we go in August when the heat will rise. This intense weather means several things for us, one of which is the power grid. ERCOT did not predict the weather would be this intense, and they are reaching max capacity to handle the greater need for air conditioning. The Texas power grid is going to be tested to its limits this summer as it was not able to focus on repairs in the springtime of May due to the heat. More than several times has ERCOT asked Texans to conserve energy at specific periods. Texans are really going to see if their power grid island holds up.
Furthermore, La Niña increases tropical activity in the Atlantic. Texas is predicted to have a hurricane very close. “The forecast also shows an increasing likelihood of a hurricane reaching within 50 miles of the Texas coast. Colorado State University now gives Texas a 59% chance of a hurricane coming very close to or making landfall in our state this year.”
While we are in Central Texas, and unlikely to find ourselves in a hurricane, this hurts us with the rising gas prices. If you remember five years ago, as Hurricane Harvey ripped through southeast Texas, gas prices went up as oil production was halted due to the storms. So, if Texas has bad hurricane weather, that affects us in that way. Additionally shipped goods will halt transportation, adding to the tense supply issue.
Story by Jacob Lehrer