Colder than normal temperatures are expected between February and April across much of the northern half of the United States, according to a three-month seasonal outlook released by Weather Services International (WSI) yesterday.
"The first half of winter has been quite mild across the eastern half of the U.S., while the western U.S. has suffered through a cold winter so far," said Dr. Todd Crawford, WSI Chief Meteorologist.
"However, the pattern has recently changed to allow much colder temperatures to plague the eastern U.S. for much of the back half of winter," he added. "A significantly weakened polar vortex will allow bitterly cold Arctic air to spread southward across the north-central and much of the eastern U.S. during February."
By March, however, higher-than-normal temperatures are forecast to make a comeback.
"Most of the objective forecasting guidance suggests that above-normal temperatures will return to the eastern U.S., likely persisting through much of the spring," said Crawford.
"The impacts from the multi-year drought across the Plains will also likely favor an early emergence of spring across much of the central and eastern U.S., especially if the remainder of winter is fairly dry in these regions as we currently expect," he added.
WSI is owned by The Weather Company, the parent company of The Weather Channel and weather.com.
Monthly Forecasts
In February, WSI forecasts:
Northeast: Colder than normal
Southeast: Colder than normal
North Central: Much colder than normal
South Central: Colder than normal, with the exception of Texas
Northwest: Colder than normal
Southwest: Warmer than normal
In both March and April, WSI forecasts:
Northeast: Warmer than normal
Southeast: Warmer than normal
North Central: Warmer than normal
South Central: Warmer than normal
Northwest: Colder than normal
Southwest: Warmer than normal, with the exception of coastal California
Exford, U.K.
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Snow falls in Exford on January 22, 2013 on Exmoor, England. Snow and ice is continuing to cause disruptions to some parts of the U.K. with more snow forecast for the southwest tonight.
