Washington Winter Outlook: NOAA Predicts Wetter, Cooler Season

SEATTLE, WA — Halloween is fast approaching, and a familiar chill is in the air, marking the informal beginning of winter weather predictions in Washington. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released its three-month outlook Thursday, favoring below-average temperatures and above-average precipitation in Washington from December to February.

"With La Niña well established and expected to persist through the upcoming 2020 winter season, we anticipate the typical, cooler, wetter North, and warmer drier South, as the most likely outcome of winter weather that the U.S. will experience this year," said Mike Halpert, deputy director at the Climate Prediction Center.

According to NOAA, below-normal temperatures have favorable odds in southern Alaska, the northern Pacific Northwest and stretching into the Northern Plains. Wetter-than-average conditions are also most likely northern states, from Washington to the Great Lakes.

While La Niña is expected to intensify widespread drought conditions in the West and parts of the Northeast, conditions are on track to improve in the Northwest, northern Rockies, New England, Alaska and Hawaii. The seasonal drought outlook shows no drought in Western Washington, with conditions improving east of the Cascades.

NOAA's seasonal outlooks predict overall likelihoods for conditions over a three-month span, but they do not predict snowfall, as such forecasts are typically not reliable more than a week in advance. The Climate Prediction Center's next update will be published on Nov. 19.