By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas:
According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, we are currently under a La Niña advisory, meaning La Niña conditions are currently being observed and are expected to continue through winter (December, January and February). Thanks for the info, but what does this mean?
This means that ocean water temperatures in the eastern Pacific are running just slightly below average, classified as a “weak” event. Typically in these conditions, weather in the northern U.S. runs cooler and wetter, but that is not always the case. Last winter was also considered a weak La Niña event and we managed only 29.4 inches at MSP or 21.8 inches below the 30-year normal of 51.2 inches.
As you can see, a La Niña winter isn’t always a slam dunk for more snow and, in fact, winter remains our fastest-warming season with an increase of more than 6 degrees since 1970. Regardless, I think we’ll be a little closer to average snow this winter. Stay tuned!
After a few morning showers, the mercury warms to near 70 on Friday afternoon. More Octoberish temps next week!
