Cheney Free Press -

CHENEY — Back in late September of 2020 when the first pages of fall had been turned, Bob Quinn went out on his usual limb and suggested some near certainties loomed for the months ahead.

The decades-long experience the now retired Eastern Washington University meteorology professor called upon — along with careful study of his go-to statistic of North Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures — suggested that a significant La Niña pattern had emerged.

This is the first fully defined La Niña with its cooler than normal sea surface temperatures in a decade (2010-11). It comes after seei...