2018-2019 Winter Outlook

Hot in Parts of the West; Cold Blast Coming to the Central U.S.

Hot to extremely hot temperatures are in place much of this week across parts of California and the interior Northwest U.S. A blast of cold air will drop across the central and eastern U.S. later this week bringing below to well below normal temperatures. Read More >

Bottom Line for the Local Area...

NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) forecast for the upcoming winter months of December-February:

Temperatures: Warmer-than-normal is slightly favored. This is due to a developing weak El Niño.

Precipitation: Drier than normal very slightly favored over the Great Lakes. It should be noted, however, while there is a tendency toward dry during weak El Niños, there has also been a wet trend over the past 15 winters in the Upper Mississippi River Valley.

The temperature and precipitation outlook images are below:

Winter Temperature Outlook

Winter Precipitation Outlook

Here is a link to the Official Winter Outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Climate Prediction Center: