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This year La Ni\\xf1a returns for the third consecutive winter, driving warmer-than-average temperatures for the Southwest and along the Gulf Coast and eastern seaboard, according to NOAA\\u2019s U.S. Winter Outlook released today by the Climate Prediction Center \\u2014 a division of the National Weather Service. Starting in December 2022 through February 2023, NOAA predicts drier-than-average conditions across the South with wetter-than-average conditions for areas of the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest.
\\n\\u201cThe hardworking forecasters at NOAA\\u2019s Climate Prediction Center produce timely and accurate seasonal outlooks and short-term forecasts year-round,\\u201d said Michael Farrar, Ph.D., director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction. \\u201cNOAA\\u2019s new supercomputers are enabling us to develop even better, more detailed forecast capabilities, which we\\u2019ll be rolling out in the coming years.\\u201d
\\nNOAA forecasters, in collaboration with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), continue to monitor extreme, ongoing drought conditions that have persisted in the Western U.S. since late 2020, as well as parts of the central U.S. where historic low-water conditions are currently present.
\\n\\u201cDrought conditions are now present across approximately 59% of the country, but parts of the Western U.S and southern Great Plains will continue to be the hardest hit this winter,\\u201d said Jon Gottschalck, chief, Operational Prediction Branch, NOAA\\u2019s Climate Prediction Center. \\u201cWith the La Ni\\xf1a climate pattern still in place, drought conditions may also expand to the Gulf Coast.\\u201d
\\nTemperature
\\nPrecipitation
\\nDrought
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