Updated February Outlook – Cold & Wet North, Warm & Dry South and West
The updated February forecast was issued Wednesday from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC). There are only a few minor changed from the forecast issued earlier on January 18th. Cooler and wetter than average weather is still expected over most of the northern tier of the nation. Drier and warmer than normal weather remains in the forecast for the south, but has been expanded westward to include the Southwest.
Our final February outlook favors cooler than normal temperatures from the Northern Plains through Northeast, while odds tilt towards warmer than usual conditions across the West and through much of the South. https://t.co/ZojpnS5Ja5 pic.twitter.com/FwSzaY8yAO
— NWSCPC (@NWSCPC) January 31, 2018
#Drought development and expansion is expected to dominate the country again in February, with substantial development forecast in central and western parts of the country. https://t.co/uvDvOR3Qkq pic.twitter.com/SjukqducZW
— NWSCPC (@NWSCPC) January 31, 2018
La Nina conditions are still being observed in the Pacific Ocean and the CPC expects the atmosphere to continue in a La Nina pattern. The forecast update was based heavily on weather trends normally seen during a La Nina, along with model projections.
[Latest sea surface temperatures. Colder than average temperatures continue to be observed in the Pacific Ocean near the Equator, indicating a La Nina is still in progress.]
La Nina (translated from Spanish as “little girl”) is a natural ocean-atmospheric phenomenon marked by cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean near the equator. It’s the opposite of El Nino (“little boy”), which is when warmer than normal water temperatures are observed.
For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Mace Michaels