Federal forecasters expect a La Niña climate pattern to form in the coming months, according to a report released Thursday — offering a potential picture of what the weather could look like across the U.S. this winter.
The annual winter outlook report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center details that a La Niña event has a 60% chance of emerging by the end of November. La Niña is characterized by cooler-than-normal ocean temperatures in the Pacific, which typically leads to drier and warmer conditions in the southern tier and cooler, wetter weather in the northern tier of the continental U.S.
This year’s La Niña is expected to be weaker and shorter in duration than ones in previous years, making it somewhat difficult to forecast months in advance.
What federal forecasters do know so far is that large swaths of the South and the East Coast are favored to see warmer-than-average temperatures this winter. Its especially true for Texas and states along the Gulf Coast, like Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to NOAA.