Winter weather forecast: La Niña is expected to appear during the 2024-2025 season

New York Winter will come before we know it, and the emergence of a La Niña weather pattern may have an impact on the types of winter weather conditions we see in the United States.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) released its report Official winter forecast for the period 2024-25 on Thursday, revealing different temperature and rainfall trends for the coming season, in addition to expected changes in drought conditions across the country.

Forecasters at the CPC said they still expect La Niña to develop during the fall and play a role in temperature and precipitation trends across the country. However, forecasters said the La Niña that develops is likely to be weak and short-lived.

In general, a La Niña pattern means wetter, cooler weather in the northern tier of the United States and warmer, drier weather in the southern tier. This appears to be in line with what CCP forecasters are predicting for the winter.

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Temperature forecast

The winter weather forecast favors above-average temperatures for most of the United States from the southwest eastward to include most of the central United States, as well as all of the eastern United States from the southeast through the mid-Atlantic to the northeast and New England.

“We have some warmer temperatures still persisting in the South, but maybe not as much when you get to the northern part of the Great Lakes,” FOX Weather meteorologist Bob Van Dillen said. “This is the La Niña that will develop, and it will be a little weaker and a little shorter-lived.”

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The Gulf of Mexico is also expected to remain warm.

“This will keep temperatures across the Gulf Coast on the warm side, including all the way toward the Atlantic side of Florida,” Van Deelen continued.

There is also the possibility of above-average temperatures in northern Alaska, while below-average temperatures are likely in southern parts of the state, the CPC said.

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Rainfall forecast

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CPC’s seasonal precipitation outlook shows enhanced probabilities for below-average totals along most of the southern tier of the country from the southwest through the southern Plains, along the Gulf Coast and into the southeast.

“This winter, the emerging La Niña event is expected to impact the coming winter patterns, especially our precipitation forecasts,” said John Gottschalk, chief of the Climate Prediction Center’s Operational Forecasting Branch.

Parts of southeast Alaska and the Alaska Panhandle may see below-average rainfall totals this winter, the EPA said.

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However, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China said that there are expected to be greater chances of below-average rainfall in the southwestern and southern plains.

Above-average precipitation is expected this winter in parts of the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rocky Mountains, parts of the Great Lakes region and western and northern Alaska.

“Large cities in the Northeast are also likely to see moderate or less snowfall again,” Van Deelen said. “So, probably below. So, if you want a big snow maker in New York City, go back to 1995 and 1996. That was a weak La Niña.”

Farmers’ winter forecast calls for “abundant amounts of snow, rain, sleet and ice.”

Drought forecast

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Drought conditions in the United States will also be a concern through at least the end of January. Much of the southern tier of the country has been highlighted by the CPC for persistent or even expanding drought.

A large swath of the country from the Southwest through the Plains, Deep South and parts of the Great Lakes region is likely to see continued drought.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China said it expects drought to develop in additional areas in the southwest, such as the Four Corners region, as well as parts of the southeast.