The latest U.S. winter outlook spells trouble for dry California and Nevada, but a warm winter in the Pacific Northwest could benefit California and California’s biggest cities, according to a newly released report.
By the time the U.S. is due to slip into its next prolonged cold spell, parts of California and Nevada should be wetter than normal. An “unprecedented” moisture deficit has been forecast in parts of the California-Nevada border region, a National Weather Service office report says.
The Pacific Northwest could see its driest winter on record under a climate change scenario considered by U.S. weather forecasters.
The U.S. winter outlook released Tuesday by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center predicts a wet winter with above-average precipitation in the west and below-average precipitation in the East, bringing “a large and relatively abrupt range of conditions across the northern tier and portions of the central and southern U.S.,” according to a synopsis of the report.
The report also projects a wet winter in the Pacific Northwest, and even a drier winter in the East, compared with previous forecasts.
The forecast for a wet winter across southern California and Nevada isn’t surprising for a region that has received almost 1 foot of rain in the past month, and could see more in the next two months.
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