El Niño Could Bring Cooler Winter for NC

Source: noaa.gov

This winter, a weather pattern known as El Niño is expected to continue through March, according to the National Weather Service. The climate pattern, where Pacific trade winds weaken and allow warmer ocean water to be pushed back toward South America, typically creates colder than average weather in the Southeast.

“Because the subtropical jet stream is more dominant in El Niño winters, this produces more low pressure systems, rainfall and clouds, and it is generally cooler in the southern United States,” the National Weather Service stated.

The outlook jibes with predictions from “The Old Farmer’s Almanac” (first published in 1792) for a “cold, snowy” winter in Western NC and a “mild, wet” season in eastern portions of the state.