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NOAA releases winter outlook

There’s no drought relief in sight for central and southern California through at least February.

That’s part of the winter outlook released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center.

“Last year’s El Nino didn’t deliver the hoped-for drought-busting precipitation for central and southern California and the Southwest,” says NOAA forecaster Mike Halpert, “and the winter forecast doesn’t bode well for this region and many other areas around the nation currently experiencing drought.”

And Halpert says dry conditions could expand in parts of the southeastern U.S, “particularly along the Gulf Coast and also develop in the Southern Plains.”

NOAA’s three-month forecast indicates normal temperatures and precipitation for much of the Corn Belt, although northern reaches—from Montana to the Great Lakes—could be cooler and wetter than normal.

AUDIO:  Excerpt from NOAA conference call with reporters