What will weather be like in winter 2020? Here’s the forecast

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released its full forecast for the 2020-2021 winter season, and it’s not as bad as you might expect.

Here’s some of the highlights from this coming winter:

• The winter will be mostly mild.
• The East Coast and Southern U.S. will see warmer-than-average temperatures.
• Utah will see normal and warmer than normal temperatures.
• Washington, northern Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas and northwestern Minnesota will see more cold temperatures than normal.
• The Southern United States will see less rain and snow.
• A drought might end up happening from the winter.

These findings are mostly based off the pattern of La Niña. Winters with La Niña tend to have less snow storms and blizzards across the East Coast. Those mostly come from El Niño winters, according to the NOAA.

• “With La Nina well established and expected to persist through the upcoming 2020 winter season, we anticipate the typical, cooler, wetter North, and warmer, drier South, as the most likely outcome of winter weather that the U.S. will experience this year,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, in a statement.
• Actual snowstorm predictions are a little harder to navigate and estimate because the weather changes so frequently.

Another danger in the winter

Temperatures might not be too bad. But experts have expressed concern about handling the novel coronavirus during the winter, which I wrote about for Deseret.

 The Wall Street Journal reports that grocers are preparing for an extreme winter as well.

• “Supermarkets are stockpiling groceries and storing them early to prepare for the fall and winter months, when some health experts warn the country could see another widespread outbreak of virus cases and new restrictions,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

There have been a few tips from NPR, which include:

1. Get a flu shot.
2. Develop an exercise routine within your home.
3. Find someone to talk to since you might not see others.
4. Reconnect with any friends you might not have seen.
5. Create a comfortable workspace in your home.