BREAKING: El Nino Official For 2014-2015 Season

Pacific Northwest –The Pacific Northwest will be where the jet stream will be just south of.  Oregon will see more rain than Washington State given the pattern.   Many seem to be going for below normal rainfall for these areas, however with the firehose (pineapple express) pointed toward Northern California this season, the entire Western USA will see more rainfall than usual.  So Oregon and Washington will be slightly above in precipitation and as a result of the warmer west flow, slightly warmer than average to more above average from Seattle to Spokane.  Idaho will be split with Colder than average temperatures in the eastern sections and above average in the western areas, including Boise.

California – California will be where the fire hose; or pineapple express, is aimed.  This pineapple express is a moist atmospheric river setup from the tropics, in this case it will be Hawaii.  Hawaiian forecast zones will also be above normal in precipitation so if you are there expect that.  This atmospheric river setup will aim Northern California with much needed rainfall.  The temperatures as a result will be slightly above average for the coastal areas and above average inland, all due to the tropical influence of the atmospheric river pineapple express.  As for Southern California, expecting average to slightly above average precipitation at times, with January and February being the most active storm tracks.  Similar to the 2009-2010 setup, we are going to look at multiple storm systems with severe thunderstorm and tornado capabilities.

Plains – The cold arctic air is set to invade the plains states this year. The Plains will no doubt have a 2009-2010 type setup where the cold pooled through Alberta, Canada and then shoved southeast through Montana and into The Plains.  The jet stream will also help to bring the colder air down.  The coldest zones will be Kansas, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Montana.  Hold it … Texas looks to have the same flow so we’re going to see that colder air evade Texas as well.  As for Precipitation … Generally with the storm track and projected jet stream you could see surface lows developing across the Central Plains, which will become blizzard producing systems for Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa.  This … again … is very similar to the 2009-2010 season for this area.  As for Texas and Oklahoma … no surface lows will affect your area so dry west-northwest flow means drier than average for you, including most of Oklahoma and the Dallas-Fort-Worth areas.  This season however could produce snowfall and ice for those areas should a storm system mix with the very cold air.

Great Lakes States – Surface lows ejecting out of the Plains will affect MN/WI/IL/IN/OH … which should up the potential of blizzard conditions.   There will be a gap across Michigan because these surface lows may not make it there so you’ll have to rely solely on any lake effect snow patterns that would develop.  Temperatures will be average to slightly below across these areas.

Southeast – As stated before, the Southeastern United States will have below average temperatures.  This is due to that jet stream pattern.  However there is something interesting.  As noted in the images below, the jet stream average points to developing surface lows in the Gulf Of Mexico, which will develop into powerful Nor’easter systems for the Southeast.  The Southeastern United States including the Carolinas will have an incredibly strong chance of ice storms and blizzard conditions, similar to the March 1993 type pattern.  The maps further say above average precipitation so this might get interesting down there.

Mid-Atlantic – This is the battleground for ice storms and blizzards this season.  Being the jet stream will allow for Nor’easters to develop, we are looking at them moving along the coast … maybe even further offshore … which will up the potential of ice storms across these areas.  Regardless, a slightly above average temperature forecast and a slightly above average precipitation forecast yields some interesting weather events to come this winter.

Northeast – Slightly above average precipitation due to Nor’easter patterns across the area … but slightly above normal temperatures… Again .. much like the Mid-Atlantic forecast above, we are looking at ice storms being the key danger this season … with the occasional blizzard burying a few towns later in the period.

Canada – The jet stream’s lack of influence across this area will bring above average temperatures.  Now it won’t be warm warm but for Canadian standards it will be warmer than average … and residents will feel that change from last winter.  However, Alberta may be the coldest area in Canada due to the northwest flow.  Ontario will be the wettest due to storms systems moving across the Northeast.  Vancouver Islands however will be way above normal in precipitation with the amount of moisture streaming out of the Pacific.  Good resort season up there!

Alaska– Above normal temperatures and precipitation for most of Alaska this season.