Sunscreen instead of ski pants? What El Niño could mean for the upcoming Prairie winter
El Niño is making its return after a nearly eight-year hiatus, and forecasters say it could impact winter weather on the Prairies.The climate pattern happens when the temperature of Pacific Ocean waters along the equator off the coast of Peru rises above normal.The air above that water then warms and moves northward.In Western Canada, this intrusion of warmer air can change the overall pattern of the polar jet stream — a narrow band of fast-moving air that separates colder weather to the north from milder weather to the…