(Reuters) – A strengthening El Nino will make the upcoming winter substantially colder in some regions of the United States, private forecaster AccuWeather said on Wednesday.
An El Nino phenomenon is a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that typically happens every few years.
“February can be an active and intense month,” AccuWeather Lead Long-Range Meteorologist and veteran forecaster Paul Pastelok said.
AccuWeather expects severe weather and tornadoes across the Gulf Coast during the winter.
Last winter, California saw monumental snowfall. This likely will repeat this winter across California, Nevada and the Four Corners region, it added.
Meanwhile, AccuWeather highlighted that the Midwest region is likely to see less seasonal snowfall.
“We expect to see an increase in U.S. demand for heating overall compared to last year, even though many places in the North will still average below historical demand,” AccuWeather founder & executive chairman Dr Joel N. Myers said.
There is a more than 95% chance that the El Nino weather pattern will continue through the Northern Hemisphere winter from January-March 2024, as per a U.S. government forecaster.
(Reporting by Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
