… After facing a La Niña winter for three years straight and getting doused with a wet and snowy winter last year, El Niño is expected to take California on a different winter ride. … The winter season, which officially begins Dec. 21, in Northern California is forecast to have an equal chance of being below or above normal precipitation, according to the December-January-February [NOAA] outlook. It was published Aug. 17. “It’s a little uncertain,” [Tom Krabacher, professor of geography at Sacramento State] said about El Niño’s effect on rain in Northern California. “It can bring more rain or can have a relatively normal rain.” He said this is because the weather event shifts the storm tracks, pushing the rain farther south.

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