Federal Forecasting Agency Releases Updated Winter Outlook

The latest report from the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) signals that La Niña will continue to be a major driver of the weather across the U.S. in the coming months. Here is an updated look at the long-range forecast and how La Niña will play a role.

Federal Forecasting Agency Releases Guidance on La Niña

Federal meteorologists at the CPC issued a new long-range weather outlook on Thursday, reiterating the influence of La Niña in the upcoming winter weather season. The CPC's statement confirmed that La Niña's stability over the last month was evident, as demonstrated by the intensification of the below-average sea surface temperatures in the waters of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

La Niña is one part of the natural climate known in meteorological circles as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The ENSO cycle fluctuates between warmer and cooler ocean waters in the tropics of the Pacific. Cooler-than-normal ocean waters in this part of the basin usher in La Niña elements.

Conversely, El Niño is officially in place when waters in this region of the Pacific come in at readings of at least 0.9 degrees warmer than average for at least three months. There is also an intermediate stage when neither El Nino nor La Niña is in full force. This stage is known as ENSO-Neutral.