[Along the beach at Nags Head, North Carolina. Photo by Tim Bish on Unsplash]
Some minor changes were made to the July forecast, updated Sunday by the Climate Prediction Center. Warmer than normal temperatures are still expected in the South, Southeast, and Northwest. Summer’s heat may not be as sweltering in the Northeast and Southwest, where the above average temperatures have been removed from the previous forecast. Below normal temperatures are still expected in the Central Plains, but most of the Great Lakes have been added into the outlook.
A wetter than average July is still favored for the Central and High Plains. The drier than normal outlook has been expanded for the Northwest, desert Southwest, South and Southwest.
The Climate Prediction Center states that “a weak El Nino is predicted to continue” with a 66% chance of El Nino continuing through summer, and a 50%-55% chance of it persisting through the fall and winter seasons. El Nino is one of the main influences in the July forecast, along with very high soil moisture and heavy rainfall over the last several months in the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley. Model guidance and typical July climatology was also considered.
The high soil moisture in the Plains lead to the cooler and wetter forecast through much of the middle of the nation. Model forecasts and El Nino influenced the warmer temperature forecast in the West, East, and South. El Nino may delay the onset of the monsoon season in parts of the West, leading to the drier forecast in pockets of the West.
For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Mace Michaels