Winter forecast: Warmer-than-average temps expected for most of USA

[left-of-center2012]

Winter forecast: Warmer-than-average temps expected for most of USA, thanks to developing El Niño

Warmer-than-average temperatures for most of the nation are expected, according to federal forecasters from the Climate Prediction Center in their official winter weather forecast released Thursday.

This is primarily due to a developing El Niño, a natural climate pattern defined as unusually warm seawater in the central Pacific Ocean. It affects weather patterns in the USA and around the world.

Specifically, warmer-than-normal temperatures are forecast "across much of the northern and western U.S., with the greatest likelihood in Alaska and from the Pacific Northwest to the northern Plains," Mike Halpert, deputy director of the prediction center, said in a statement.

No part of the USA is favored to have below-average temperatures, Halpert said. As for the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley, there were no clear signals for either above- or below-average temperatures this winter.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/10/18/winter-forecast-warmer-than-normal-temperatures-most-united-states/1681383002/

[2naSalit]

1. That's not good.

Fish in fresh coldwater will die off and a whole bunch of wildfires in my area.