A strengthening La Nina has the potential to create weather extremes across the U.S. this winter, government forecasters said Thursday. The South can expect a warmer and drier winter than on average, while the Pacific Northwest should see colder and wetter months from December through February.
“La Nina is in place and will strengthen and persist through the winter months, giving us a better understanding of what to expect between December and February,” Mike Halpert, deputy director of the U.S. Climate Prediction Center, said in a statement.
There is a potential for drought developing in the Southeast, he added, specifically citing Florida.
La Nina, which means “little girl” in Spanish, is associated with cooler-than-normal water temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, unlike its sibling El Nino, which has the opposite effect.
