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ALASKA: Milder winter along the southern coast, but not much impact up north. Roads, airports and building foundations are damaged by melting permafrost. Similar situations have been reported in Siberia and in the Canadian Arctic.

HAWAII: El Niņo generally, but not always, has increased mid-Pacific storms.


CALIFORNIA: Closest thing to "ground zero" for the United States; El Niņo punches southern and northern California with a barrage of storms, causing floods and mudslides. A state of emergency was declared in 31 California counties. The rough weather was blamed for at least eight deaths and power blackouts in tens of thousands of homes. Storms have undermined roads and buildings and driven people from their homes.
Winter-grown produce such as celery (a big crop in coastal Southern California) could take a huge hit.
Temperature-sensitive fish species are migrating as El Niņo shifts water currents, moving their food sources to unusual locations. The sea lions on San Miguel Island are starving because ocean temperatures are too warm to support the fish they usually feed on.


NORTHWEST Winter weather generally warmer and drier. A focal point here is the salmon fishery, which already is reeling from a huge crash in the salmon population due to over-fishing and loss of spawning stream habitat. Ocean current and temperature changes could change feeding and migratory patterns.


DESERT SOUTHWEST: The 21 inches of snow that fell near Roswell, New Mexico, in December was the largest one-month total since 1893.
Last September's Hurricane Nora didn't hit much of Arizona as hard as expected, but some areas received their annual average rainfall total in a single day.


ROCKIES: Last October, a single blizzard dumped 22 inches of snow on Denver, paralyzing the city. The Colorado basin saw flooding and mudslides. Snowmelt could put more water into the Colorado and Rio Grande Rivers, affecting life from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas.

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA: Wetter winter all across the southern U.S. There's some conjecture that the absence of El Niņo for most of the 1930s helped create the drought-stricken region known as the Dust Bowl.


SOUTHEAST: Florida pummeled by tornadoes; causes at least 40 deaths and severe destruction.
Florida Keys researchers have reported unusual damage to temperature-sensitive coral reefs.


MIDWEST/NORTHERN PLAINS Warmer and drier; some concern about next year's crops getting a slow start from a dry winter. Could have some effect on the commodities market. Temperatures have been two to four degrees warmer than normal and have accounted for record-high temperatures in Chicago and Minneapolis. There should be some big savings on heating bills here and in the Northeast.


NORTHEAST This was the El Niņo that robbed North Easterners of Christmas. New York City was a balmy eight degrees Fahrenheit, warmer than usual for the month of January. Temperatures have been two to four degrees warmer than normal and have accounted for record-high temperatures in Buffalo and New York.