One month is expected to be the stormiest and the coldest with another period of an amplified Polar jet stream.
You think it was cold enough already?
Enjoying the warm weather now?
This winter could get colder.
With winter coming, here’s a winter forecast from Steven DiMartino, meteorologist and owner of NY NJ PA Weather:
December:
“December will be the warmest month of the winter. The pattern for the first 15 to 20 days of the month is expected to be driven by a strong upper level low in the Gulf of Alaska …. Best potential for a winter storm along the East coast is towards the end of the month,” according to DiMartino.
January:
“The Polar and Sub Tropical jet stream will interact in this period and will have the potential to produce significant cold snaps and winter storms….The pattern should relax towards the end of January briefly leading to a moderation in the weather pattern,” according to the forecaster.
February:
“This month is expected to be the stormiest and the coldest with another period of an amplified Polar jet stream and an active Sub Tropical jet stream. A major Arctic air mass invasion is likely,” according to the forecaster.
March
“Storm threat is likely through March 15th with a cold start to spring likely,” according to the forecaster.
What Could Go Wrong
There are two factors that could change this winter forecast. The first factor is if El Nino continues to strengthen into late December and shift completely East based while the SSTA in the northern Pacific cools, DiMartino said.
The Farmers’ Almanac also has released its long-range prediction for winter 2015-2016 and the news isn’t good, unless you like it really cold and snowy.
The publication predicts a “snowy and unseasonably” cold winter for the mid-Atlantic states, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. New England and New York will also have a ”snowy and bitter cold” winter, the Farmers’ Almanac predicts.
“According to the Farmers’ Almanac, the winter of 2015–2016 is looking like a repeat of last winter, at least in terms of temperatures with unseasonably cold conditions over the Atlantic Seaboard, eastern portions of the Great Lakes, and the lower peninsula of Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, most of the Tennessee and Mississippi Valley, as well as much of the Gulf Coast,” the publication announced.
