Winter Outlooks Being Released

Yes. It is getting there. The snow season is approaching whether you like it or not. The recent weather pattern is starting to give the air a more Autumn feel and the snow will start flying sooner than later. So to send your summer off on a good note, one of AccuWeather's Meteorologists has released a winter outlook so you can begin preparing for the upcoming winter.  Enough of the warm sunny days, it's time to dust off the snow blower that you barely used last year and start prepping for the good ole NW PA winter season.

Typical winter weather due to weak to moderate
El Nino conditions.
Image: AccuWeather

One of the main features that will be affecting our winter here will be El Nino/La Nina. Both have to do with the temperature of the water in the equatorial Pacific and  with El Nino referring to warmer than average water temperatures and La Nina referring to cooler than average water temperatures.  Both have an impact here in the U.S. because the temperature of the water ultimately affects the jet stream and weather patterns.  It is expected that a weak to moderate El Nino will be in effect in the Fall and will continue into the winter. 

AccuWeather's recent winter outlook.
Image: AccuWeather.

Typically, a weak El Nino weather pattern brings slightly below average temperatures here in our region with near average precipitation.  The temperature and precipitation anomalies for a weak El Nino are pictured below. AccuWeather has left us out of any "forecast" so I'm assuming they are predicting near average for precipitation and temperature for our area. 

Our area is slightly below average in temperature from
Nov to Mar during a "weak El Nino".
Image: NOAA

Our area is near average in precipitation from
Nov to Mar during a "weak El Nino".
Image: NOAA

Area Snowfall totals from 2011-2012.

This is the first winter outlook that I've seen so far. I'll keep checking.  Usually the Farmers Almanac and Weather Channel release winter outlooks. Also, I'm sure AccuWeather will release another one as well.  Here is last year's weak snowfall totals around the area: