What Kind of Winter Does NOAA Predict For The Tri-States?

Fall showed up quick. Within the a matter of days, it went from 90 to 50, and has stuck around. We even dipped below freezing a night or two earlier this week. So coming off a long hot summer, straight into a brisk autumn, what does that mean for winter? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, has released their 2018/2019 winter outlook, and it's actually not bad.

The NOAA is predicting a warming trend over the Pacific, creating a mini-El Niño and generating warmer than average temperatures across most of the US. For those of you who don't habla Español, El Niño is Spanish for The Niño.

We here in the Tri-States are right on the edge of "warmer than average" and "just normal temperatures." So while there may be outlier days of cold snaps, we can generally expect an overall average winter, maybe a little warmer than we're expecting.

As for precipitation, we can expect normal snowfall over the course of the next few months. While the southwest, south, and Eastern seaboard can expect wetter than normal conditions, we're looking at an average amount of snowfall and precipitation. For the farmers' sake, I'm hoping the NOAA is a little conservative in their predictions.

I spent 13 years of my life in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. I know brutally long and cold winters. I'm glad I've since moved further south to these normal, average winters.