Surprising no one after the wild weather the country has been experiencing, weather experts are predicting a weak La Niña winter, according to CNN—the exact opposite of last year’s El Niño. This will develop early—maybe even in November—and influence temperatures, rain and snow across the U.S. Once La Niña arrives, it’ll stay until early spring of 2025. Get that teakettle a boilin' now.
Last year’s El Niño winter was the warmest on record for the lower 48 states, thanks also to global warming. If you didn’t get the snow and rain you wanted last year, this winter could be better. Large portions of the northern U.S. will be much wetter than normal this winter, especially the Pacific Northwest and Midwest—which is good news for the drought-stricken Midwest. However, more precipitation doesn’t naturally mean more snow, but the fact that this will be a weak La Niña definitely brings hope for snow in the Northeast. There is the chance, however, that some winter storms in parts of the East end up wetter, rather than snowier.
Experts say this winter's weather could change from week to week rather than stay more consistent because of the jet stream’s shift during La Niña winters. This usually moves stormy weather out of the South and up into the northern U.S. The South will see drier and warmer-than-normal weather and drought conditions could worsen. This is the opposite from last winter, when the South was wetter and the North was drier.
As for the Midwest, Plains and Rockies, they could wind up with temperatures closer to normal this winter. In the Pacific Northwest and parts of the Dakotas, cooler than normal weather is expected and the Pacific Northwest could get much more snow, which is crucial for its ski resorts.
Northern California will be near normal this year, while SoCal will be drier and warmer than average. That is ominous for a state that endures a heavy wildfire season.