NOAA calls for cold temps and heavy snow in northern U.S

NOAA – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is calling for colder than normal temperatures and more precipitation in the northern states bordering the Canadian Prairies this winter, according to the United States agency’s first long range forecast for the upcoming winter.

The forecast, released Oct. 15, also calls for warmer-than-normal temperatures and reduced precipitation across much of the southern U.S. The warm and dry forecast encompasses a number of key winter wheat growing states, including Texas, Oklahoma, and parts of Kansas.

“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 of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

The NOAA weather maps stop at the Canadian border. The latest long-range forecasts from Environment Canada, released Sept. 30, call for normal temperatures in December and January for the Prairies, and warmer-than-normal temperatures from Ontario through the Maritimes. The four-to-six month forecast shows a similar pattern through March.

The Environment Canada winter precipitation maps currently call for normal levels in most agricultural regions, aside from southern Alberta where there is a greater chance of more precipitation than normal.