Forecasters from Japan to the United States and Indonesia have predicted a La Niña could develop this year, potentially changing weather globally. As El Niño weakens and La Niña starts to take shape, forecasters with the University of Missouri say the weather event seems likely to bring hot and dry weather to the Midwest this summer. The Midwest experienced a relatively mild winter and, according to Tony Lupo, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Missouri, a fading El Niño leaves part of the U.S. open to dry conditions. La Niña is a weather pattern that directs the jet stream from the Pacific Ocean on a northeastern path over Canada. Rain-producing storms follow the jet stream, leaving states in the central and south-central U.S. dry. Lupo says he does not expect the summer weather in the Midwest to be comparable to the drought conditions of 2012, but still calls the forecast bad for agriculture. Bloomberg says the most recent La Niña weather event began in 2010 and continued into 2012.
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