the current el nino... godzilla el nino. >> this el nino, like all el nino's, is a weather system that begins in the pacific ocean at the equator. >> the pacific covers 30% of the planet. so i always say, when the pacific speaks everybody around the planet better listen. >> understanding el nino begins with the acronym "enso" - or el nino southern oscillation. according to the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, every 3 to 7 years surface waters of the tropical pacific ocean warm or cool by 1 degree celsius to 3 degrees celsius compared to normal. >> when this happens all the pieces on the weatherboard around the planet are changed. what was wet becomes drought and vice versa. >> you have the maps up here, we're looking at '97 and we're looking at now. what do you see? >> on the left 1997 very very big event. and we see the same event almost exactly replicated here in 2015. >> in the years since the last el nino, nasa went all out lauching a series of satellites for monitoring the worlds oceans... and p

godzilla el nino. no, it's not exactly a giant monster parading through downtown roanoke, but it has sparked some wild weather in southwest virginia from historic flooding to record heat to predicting what's next is no easy task, spring.than average slightly next in our ag life report:a festival celebrating all things horses.why organizers say this event could clear up some misconceptions about the horse owners from near and far are coming together to show off their horses at the upcoming virginia-north carolina horse festival. w-f-x-r's charlie cooper got a preview of what to expect at the festival and shows us how the horses are preparing for the big day. 17-2136-41 nat soundsherri garner-horse ownersthis horse has been shown everywhere. she's been in world and the national championships for farisians.track 1now this beauty will be one of 50 horses shown at the upcoming virginia north carolina horse festival. jamie stowe-virginia cooperative extensionthe arena here is empty right now but we have a fu

climatologists began measuring the temperatures of the pacific ocean in 1950, only two el ninos have lived up to the strength of "godzilla": the 82-83 el nino and the 97-98 el nino. all three of these monster el ninos have led to one thing in virginia a lot of moisture. el nino often splits the jet stream into two branches the sub-tropical jet to the south and the polar jet to the north. when the moisture of the sub-tropical jet meshes with the cold air from the polar jet, strong storms wallop southwest virginia with either snow or rain depending on the season. "quote" during the height of this current el nino, virginia has averaged just shy of 40 inches of water which is nearly 8 inches above average. the strong el ninos of the 80s and 90s also had a large surplus of moisture. so does that mean more snow and out winter and head into spring? no! here's why. el nino is forecast to weaken through march, april, and may. while conditions are forecast to stay fairly wet in march, history shows us that conditions directly after the previous strong el ninos have been exceptionally dry in virginia. i predict it will be an abnorm

climatologist bill patzert famously called this massive band of warm water in the pacific ocean a godzilla el nino, predicted to drench drought-ravaged california. is this godzilla more bark than bite? >> el nino remains immense. it's had a powerful impact over the last six months. and even this winter, all the volatile weather we've had across the united states, the fingerprint of el nino is on all these events. >> reporter: turns out, the el nino is so big, it shifted the jet stream further north, allowing storms to batter northern california and the pacific northwest. rain-soaked cliffs near san francisco have been dropping but these northern storms are also dramatically boosting california's snow pack, now the deepest it's been in more than a decade. spring snow melt will help fill the state's depleted reservoirs and provide 30% of california's water supply. the temperature hit 90 degrees here today in los angeles, and that is a new record for this date, but forecasters say they still expect those el nino rains and cooler temperatures to hit los angeles and, scott, they say that will happen in

so don't worry. >> steve: godzilla el nino doing the mamba. >> jimmy: guys, this is cool. i read that president obama was spotted at a steak restaurant in d.c. this week with morgan freeman and tom hanks. they didn't even order anything. they just closed their eyes and listened to morgan freeman read the appetizers. [ laughter ] >> artichoke dip. crab cakes. jalapeno poppers. [ laughter and applause ] >> jimmy: artichoke dip. morgan, is there anything else on the menu? >> broccolini. saut\ed escarole. rice pilaf. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: broccolini. yeah. guys, here's the latest on the election. bernie sanders was talking about how he's a feminist, at the democratic town hall last night. check out what he said. >> gloria steinem -- everybody knows gloria's one of the leading feminists in america -- made me an honorary woman many, [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: at which point he was immediately hit on by bill clinton. [ laughter and applause ] it was interesting. it was very interesting. and over at last night's republican town hall, the candidates were asked what type of

godzilla el nino. no, it's not exactly a giant monster parading through downtown roanoke, but it has sparked some wild weather in southwest virginia from historic flooding to record heat to crippling winter storms. predicting what's next is no easy task, but i'm going to give it a shot. since climatologists began measuring the temperatures of the pacific ocean in 1950, only two el ninos have lived up to the strength of "godzilla": the 82-83 el nino a lot of the attention going into super tuesday next week has gone to the multiple republicans running for the white house.but the democrat race has not been settled.next on good day virginia, we will look at the campaign of bernie sanders. bernie sanders.campaign of will look at the next on good day been settled.race has not white house.running for the republicans the multiple week has gone to tuesday next week has gone to the multiple week has gone to into super attention going a lot of the a lot of the attention going into super tuesday next week has gone

nasa climatologist bill pastert called the massive band of warm water in a godzilla el nino predicted to drench drought ravaged california. >> is this godzilla more bark than bite? >> el nino remains immense. it has the had a powerful impact over the last six months. volatile weather we have had across the united states, the fingerprint of el nino is on all these events. >> reporter: turns out the el nino is so big it shifted the jet stream further north. allowing storms to batter northern california and pacific north west. rain soaked cliffs near san francisco have been dropping into the ocean. but northern storms are also dramatically boosting california snow pack. now the deepest it has been in more than a decade. spring snow melt will help fill the state's depleted reservoirs and 30% of california's water supply. the temperature hit 90 here today in los angeles. that is a new record for this date. but forecasters say they still expect those el nino rains and cooler temperatures to hit los angeles and scott they say that will happen in the next couple of weeks. >> ben tracy for us

he kind of went out there and said this is the godzilla el nino. the strength of the el nino has never been in question. the storms that get energized by el nino have been there like predicted. the problem is the ridge. the ridge has taken it here. north. talk to folks in seattle who on twitter are begging folks in california, please take the rainfall! we have had enough! we're done! they don't want any more rain. they don't need any more rainfall up there. you know who needs the rainfall? raise your hand at home because we do and we have not received it over the past couple of weeks. i'll show you radar in a second. first a mild day ahead of the rain that's moving through. napa 68 degrees. fremont 68. san francisco cooler only 62. in the background that's ocean beach where we have seen fog and rough surf. let me show you video earlier today. the high surf advisory we talked about yesterday has been in effect all day, will be in effect as we roll through the evening hours and if you are heading out to the beach tomorrow, high risk of rip currents. t

godzilla el nino. no, it's not exactly a giant monster parading through downtown roanoke, but it has sparked some wild weather in southwest virginia from historic flooding to record heat to crippling winter storms. predicting what's next is no today wraps up future farmers of america week. next in our ag life report, we sit down with two local students involved with ffa. we'll hear how they're making a difference in their today wraps up future farmers of america week across the commonwealth the first ever 4-h-ffa youth expo was held on february 22nd at lord botetourt high school we're joined this morning by two chapter officers from botetourt county -- davis fenster and mason sowers. why did you guys get what can they look forward to? tell us about the career development events you guys have takent part in? you're unpacking already? yeah, help me find some mugs. sure. (beep) hey... o.k. they'll do. wake up to the mountain grown aroma of folgers. the best part of wakin' up so, where do you want to start