NOAA predicting another frigid weather pattern

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Prediction Center is forecasting a lot more cold this winter.  For southcentral Alaska, that is.  For Barrow, the news might be better.  The prediction center says the far north can expect warmer temperatures than normal.

If the predictions are correct, February and March will bring more of the almost-record cold we just experienced.  However, June, July and August should be quite a bit warmer than last summer, which was one of the coldest on the records kept for Talkeetna.

NOAA releases official 90-day forecasts in the middle of each month. Recent La Nina  conditions, the opposite of El Nino, are causing the colder conditions.  The ocean temperatures off the coast of South America are currently colder than normal.  But the Climate Prediction Center forecasters think that by spring and summer, the El Nino conditions will occur and much of Alaska will be much warmer than it was last year.

For now, the 14-day forecast predicts warmer than average temperatures across Alaska.