What La Niña May Mean For Winter In PA

PENNSYLVANIA — A new winter outlook holds some potentially good news/more bad news for Pennsylvania residents who are bracing for dramatically higher heating bills.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s U.S. Winter Outlook for December through February, it looks like all of eastern Pennsylvania is in line for above average temperatures and average precipitation levels. Much of central and western Pennsylvania, meanwhile, will see average temperatures and above average precipitation, as the band of weather impacts cuts directly through the center of the state.

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A La Niña climate pattern returning for the third consecutive winter is driving warmer-than-average temperatures for the Southwest and along the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard, according to the outlook.

Below-normal temperatures are favored from the Pacific Northwest eastward to the western Great Lakes and the Alaska Panhandle.

• Related: Sharp Increases In Home Heating Costs Expected This Winter

Drought conditions are present across about 60 percent of the country, and the La Niña climate pattern may extend the drought to the Gulf Coast, Jon Gottschalck, of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, said in a news release. Parts of the western U.S. and southern Great Plains will be the hardest hit by the dry weather, he said.

Pennsylvania, which just saw a drought watch listed for 16 counties (20 counties remain under the watch) does not appear to be impacted by the trend, NOAA says.

The predictions call for wetter-than-average conditions for areas of the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest.