By MELISSA PEACOCK

Tired of the rain? State Climatologist Jay Grymes, of Louisiana State University, said residents of south Louisiana are not likely to see any relief from the rain this fall.

While predicting a less active storm season than originally anticipated, Grymes said the El Nino phenomenon in the Pacific could bring more rain to Louisiana.

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the term climatologists use to describe the relationship between above average water temperatures in the East Central Pacific Ocean and resulting atmospheric changes. During an El Nino period, warmer waters in the Pacific cause upper level winds to develop in the atmosphere. Increased winds in the upper atmosphere inhibit tropical storm growth and development.

But, Grymes cautioned, the same thing that causes wind speeds to increase, decreasing storms, also causes wetter weather.

“For South Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, about two out of every three El Ninos tend to be wetter than normal,” Grymes said. “The good news is that the potential for storms is decreased. The bad news is sometimes El Nino creates conditions conducive to flooding.”

Currently, the state is a little behind in terms of rainfall. During the spring, Louisiana farmers waited out a drought that destroyed crops, including corn. For the last two to three months, the rainfall has been slightly above normal.

“It is kind of neat that we can look to the Pacific Ocean to see what our future weather patterns will be like,” Grymes said. “Seven to ten I will be right and the fall will be wet.”

For the next few weeks, Grymes said South Louisiana can expect near normal rainfall with temperatures near normal. Forecasters are predicting cooler and dryer weather for today.

As for this year’s storms, Grymes said he prefers not to be too optimistic.

“(Hurricane) Andrew came during an El Nino year and was just devastating,” Grymes said. “It is possible that the influence of El Nino may in fact not be very great at all.”