A weak La Niña is forecast to appear this winter and affect weather patterns across the country, likely bringing drier-than-average conditions in much of the Southwest and wetter-than-average conditions in the Pacific Northwest, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The outlook is uncertain, however, for much of California, where NOAA experts predict there are equal chances of below-average, average or above-average winter precipitation. “For California, there was quite a bit of uncertainty,” said Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “Drought is not favored to develop in California at the current time, but it’s something we will be watching very closely as we go into the winter, because La Niña events do sometimes have a dry signal, especially in Southern California.”

Related weather articles:

• Newsweek: 60% chance of La Niña this autumn: Here’s what that means for US weather
• National Integrated Drought Information System news release: Drought Status Update for California-Nevada
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: U.S. Winter Outlook: Warmer and drier South, wetter North
• University of California Merced news release: Study: Climate change extends drought recovery by at least three months
• Associated Press: Diablo and Santa Ana winds are to descend on California and raise wildfire risk