Climate Prediction Center Winter  Outlook
?
??? The Climate Prediction Center,  a unit of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, discusses the  outlook for this winter. The 
agency does not expect El Nino and La Nina to  affect global weather for the 
next nine months. The two weather patterns, which  occur because of changes 
in ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, directly  influence US rain 
patterns and land temperatures. The CPC says this winter will  be the first 
year in three that the US has not had a strong influence from this  
particular climate-driving force. But, that does not mean there will be a 
whole  lot of difference in terms of when winter will start. It will have 
something to  do with temperatures, because both La Nina and El Nino have 
tended to make  temperatures moderate in the winter.? The CPC expects that 
this winter  nationwide on average will still be slightly warmer than normal, 
but not as warm  as the last three. The northern part of the nation and 
particularly the  Northeast, however, could be an exception with colder 
weather. The warmer  pattern will be confined more to the West and the South. 
East of the Mississippi  with the exception of Florida should be cooler this 
winter and most of  California and the northern half of the Rockies and the 
Dakotas. For the fall  and winter, expect the Southwest to be the mild and 
dry.