(NEXSTAR) – A La Niña winter just started, but it isn’t expected to last long. National forecasters are already looking ahead to the spring season.
A new long-range forecast, released Thursday, shows broad weather predictions for February, March and April nationwide. For about half of the country, it appears spring-like weather is set to arrive early.
A broad swath of the U.S., from Arizona all the way up to Maine, is favored to see above-average temperatures over the next three months. The southernmost states have the highest chance of seeing unseasonably warm weather, according to the Climate Prediction Center.
Meanwhile, the opposite is true for a select few northern states, where colder-than-normal weather is predicted. Washington, Oregon, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska are all leaning toward a chillier start to spring.
When it comes to spring showers, the country once again looks divided into two. The Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes region, parts of the Midwest and the Northeast are looking like they’ll see more rain than normal. But the Southwest and Gulf states are leaning toward dry conditions.
A dry season down south could worsen already concerning drought conditions in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
The predictions for the middle band of the U.S. are more of a toss-up. The states shaded in white on both maps have equal chances to see one of three outcomes: average conditions, above-average conditions, or below-average conditions.
Hawaii, which is not shown in the maps above, is likely to see above-normal temperatures over the next three months, especially in the northwestern islands. Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island all have higher probabilities of extra rain in the start of spring, as well.
