How a Weaker La Niña Will Influence This Winter's Weather

An updated winter weather forecast was released last week as a joint effort between Atmospheric G2 and The Weather Company. What did the update say about what Americans should expect this year for the winter season? And how will the emergence of a weaker than expected La Niña climate phase impact the weather in the next few months? Read on for all of the details.

Warmer Winter on Tap

The bulk of the country is going to see winter temperatures that trend warmer than usual. The warmer than average temperatures will be the story for the Southwest and up to the East Coast. The Deep South is forecast to see the greatest departure with temperatures hovering well above the average for these months.

Conversely, the bulk of the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rocky Mountains, and the northern Plains are likely to experience temperatures that skew cooler than normal. These two agencies initially released their winter weather outlook in October but have since revised their predictions to indicate colder than anticipated temperatures for Washington state, northern and western portions of Oregon, northern Idaho, and most of Montana.

Looking specifically at January and February, the southern and eastern parts of the country will see warmer readings while the Northwest trends colder. This is typically the time of the year when the eastern half of the U.S. experiences periodic intrusions of frigid air thanks to the polar vortex. However, forecasters believe that the vortex will have less of an influence on the winter weather to start 2025.

Although there will always be the chance of an anomaly, the current long-range forecast is calling for above-average readings for the southern half of the nation and up through the Midwest and the Northwest. The Pacific Northwest will start the new year with much cooler than average readings. February is predicted to fall the most below the typical readings in this corner of the country.

Impacts of La Niña on the Winter Weather