NEW WINTER OUTLOOK ISSUED BY ACCUWEATHER

Finally, an Outlook I love.



Following a snow drought during winter 2011-2012, the mid-Atlantic and southern New England will get a snow dump this winter.

Above-normal snowfall is forecast for the major I-95 cities, including New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., during winter 2012-2013. The I-95 cities could get hit pretty good. It's a matter of getting the cold to phase in with the huge systems that we are going to see coming out of the southern branch of the jet stream this year.

The cold is expected to phase with the big storms during January and February with the potential for large snowstorms to make headlines and create travel headaches in the major cities.



On the other hand, the ski industry, which despite an early start for some resorts suffered a slow season overall last winter, will benefit from the above-normal snowfall.

Factors Behind the Above-Normal Snow Forecast

The presence of El Niño or La Niña - and their strength - is used to project how active the winter season is going to be. Long-Range meteorologists are continuing to project a weak to moderate El Niño by the fall. An El Niño pattern is classified by above-normal water temperatures in the central and equatorial Pacific Ocean. Warming the ocean water in turn warms the air above the Pacific, causing weather patterns to change globally.
El Niño winters feature a strong southern branch of the jet stream across the U.S. When the strong southern jet stream phases with the northern branch of the jet stream, big storms can impact the East.



It should be noted that no two El Niños are the same. The strength of this phenomenon can mean a great deal for winter weather. Furthermore, there are other factors that influence snowfall amounts for the winter. Enough cold air must meet with big East Coast storms for snow to fall in the I-95 corridor. One of the biggest factors to allow this to happen is Blocking. Blocking is an area of high pressure that dominate eastern Canada or Greenland at times during the winter, forcing cold air to reach to U.S. When blocking occurs, storms tend to slow their eastward progression off the East coast. You also get moist flow off the Atlantic to help enhance snowfall rates. Blocking is something we definitely were lacking in during the 2011-2012 season.

So hopefully, we will see some snow in the Southeast this year. This will save me from eating crow with my kids as I told them just last week, we will go see snow for the Holidays this year because there will be snow due to the weather pattern setting up.

credit: accuweather

Thanks for posting the winter outlook, e !! Guess I will go ahead and get a cord of firewood ordered.....I usually wait until fall......will save me a few bucks, and will let it "season" a bit.....as what is sold as "seasoned," is pretty much a joke here.......

An El Nino winter.....hmmm if it stays neutral will the Gulf coast see snow?..lol

Yippee, cool and wet for Florida, maybe it will get cold enough to kill off the iguanas.

I can only hope that it happens!!!! Thanks for posting e!

Well lets see what winter 2017/2018 has in store for Florida..hopefully no severe storms etc

I cannot imagine,what a 6-12 inch surprise snowfall would be like around here..i seriously doubt I would take my car out of the garage...just about every street would have an accident huh lol..not many snow tires here in Florida I imagine...but...sure would like nice for a day or two huh.

so we enter Florida's dry season,it would be nice if this GW would give us more rainfall also..would That be the case? or just warmer temps?

well Christmas 2017 is just days away and here in Florida temps are in the high 70's to 80 degree's,so far it doesn't look like it will be an exceptionally cold winter .. IF it continues like this