La Nina Pattern Expected This Winter

Photo courtesy of: NOAA/Climate Prediction Center/NCEP/NWS.

Western and parts of central Canada are predicted to have cold temperatures this winter. Potentially even frigid temperatures in some areas. This is according to the Climate Prediction Center report regarding this upcoming winter. A classic blocking high pressure system, off of the Alaska/British Columbia coast, associated with La Nina, combined with the usual colder ocean temperatures from La Nina, could give us more extreme cold warnings than usual. The rest of central and eastern Canada will not expereince the same frigid temperatures as the west will.

As the map above shows, the northwestern, and northern Great Plains are also going to experience these frigid temperatures, while the rest of the U.S. will, for the most part, avoid these cold temperatures.

Because the La Nina pattern is located off of the Alaska/British Columbia coast, it should be noted that the precipitation is likely to be greater along the southwestern Canadian coast, and northwestern U.S. coast, all while the southwestern, south-central, and southeastern U.S. are expected to recieve less precipitation than usual.

-Christopher