No one in their right mind goes out of their way hoping to find pests in their home. Unfortunately for many American’s mother nature might be doing this for them.
As of March 9th, 2023 La Niña has officially ended.
This La Niña cycle began in September 2020, has fueled the extremely active hurricane seasons for the past 2.5 years as well as droughts in the southwest of the United States. La Niña occurs when sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean are below average, and in turn brings dried and warmer conditions to the Southern United States, and wetter conditions to the Northern United States.
This added moisture in the Northern half of the United States and the rampant hurricane season the Southern United States have been having the past 2.5 years bodes perfectly for pest populations such as Ants, Cockroaches, Mosquitoes, Termites and more.
Taking this a step further, the NOAA ENSO is giving up a 63% chance of El Niño forming this year. El Niño is the opposite effect as La Niña, which brings upon warmer and dryer conditions in the Northern United States as well as Warmer and Wetter conditions in the Southern United States.
The combination of these two weather phenomenas has a high potential to leading to the perfect storm for pest activity beginning in Spring of 2023.
How Will This Affect Pest Activity In 2023?
Most common household pests such as ants, termites, mosquitoes, and cockroaches prefer damp and humid environments. These types of climates help them breed and multiply at a much quicker rate compared to other weather conditions.
With the added moisture from La Niña coupled with the looming El Niño which will add additional heat to the country, homeowners could see a massive uptick in pest activity in 2023 and onwards.
Although some of this is speculative depending on if and when El Niño will take place and the impact it has, it has the potential to lead to a massive uptick in pest activity for Americans which can bring upon thousands of dollars in termite damages, an uptick in mosquito borne illnesses, and general discomfort as a homeowner.
We’ll have to wait and see how this plays out, but the writings might be on the wall for an uptick in pest activity in 2023 moving into 2024.
