NOAA’s 2023 Winter Weather Outlook: Third Year of La Nina Will Create Warmer, Drier South

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just released its winter weather forecast for the period between December 2022 and February 2023. Overall, NOAA predicts drier-than-average conditions across the South with wetter-than-average conditions for areas of the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest, all fueled by a third year of La Nina creating warmer temperatures for the Southwest, Gulf Coast, and the eastern seaboard. The extreme drought conditions seen in the southern Great Plains and the western U.S. are expected to continue, with a potential expansion to the Gulf Coast. Drought conditions are now present across approximately 59 percent of the country. Additionally, warmer-than-average temperatures are forecast in western Alaska, the Central Great Basin, the Southwest extending through the Southern Plains, in the Southeastern U.S., and along the Atlantic coast. Below-normal temperatures are expected from the Pacific Northwest eastward to the western Great Lakes and the Alaska Panhandle. Read the full report at NOAA.