Winter weather outlook: California drought could worsen, what else to expect

(NEW YORK) — The devastating drought in Southern California is expected to continue or worsen this winter, with drier-than-average conditions forecast for the hard-hit Southwest, including Southern California, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday in its winter weather outlook.

NOAA predicts drought conditions to continue in the Southwest, Plains and Missouri River Basin. But drought improvement is possible in Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, the upper Midwest and Hawaii, NOAA said.

Drier-than-average conditions are also forecast for the Southeast this winter. Wetter-than-average conditions are forecast in areas including the Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, NOAA said.

NOAA predicts a warmer-than-average winter in the Southeast and much of the eastern U.S.

Temperatures may fall below average from the Pacific Northwest through the northern Plains.

But more-than-normal snow and rain is forecast for the Ohio Valley and some of the inland Northeast, from western Pennsylvania to western New York to parts of Vermont.