Lazaro Aleman
Greene Publishing, Inc.
Fall is barely here, and already weather forecasters are making announcements about the coming winter.
Last week, the AccuWeather Global Weather Center issued its winter forecast for the continental United States, predicting frequent above-normal snowfalls in the Northeast and crop damaging freezes in the Southeast.
“I think the Northeast is going to see more than just a few, maybe several, systems in the course of the season,” said AccuWeather's long-range forecaster Paul Pastelok.
He offered that unlike last season, which saw most of winter’s snowfalls coming from a few heavy-hitting storms, this winter would last into the early or middle part of spring and would feature frequent snow events.
Overall, it’s expected that the northeast region will have fewer subzero days. The temperature, however, will average three to five degrees Fahrenheit lower than last year, according to Pastelok.
As for the Southeast, it’s Pastelok's forecast that winter will creep in slowly through December, followed by a sudden burst of cold that will penetrate the region as the air pattern changes.
“I am afraid that we have a shot at seeing a damaging freeze in central Florida in mid- to late January this year,” Pastelok said, adding that the chill could spell disaster for the area’s citrus crops.
He forecasts that the cold air will retreat after January, but a shift to severe weather will then likely occur.
“Places like Atlanta, Chattanooga, even up into Roanoke, they could have some severe weather,” Pastelok said. “But if the storm track is a little farther east, then you’re looking more at places like Tallahassee to Savannah and, maybe, Charleston.”
He expects bitter cold to grip the Plains and Midwest, with overall temperatures plummeting an average of six to nine degrees lower than last year.
For the southern Plains and Gulf Coast, Pastelok expects winter to start late, with fall-like weather lingering into late December before chillier air masses work down from the north, maybe with a few disruptive ice storms.
For the Northwest and northern California, Pastelok sees an early winter, ushered in by rain and snowstorms.
As for the Southwest and southern California, he sees warm, dry conditions spanning much of the season.