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Elaine Thompson / AP
An ice storm that followed a snow storm coats this car in Seattle, Wash., last Thursday. The Northwest could see a much colder than normal February.
The northern half of the U.S. can expect a much colder second half of winter, while drought-hit Texas and some other parts of the South are likely to see above normal temperatures, a weather forecasting service predicted Tuesday.
"The last half of winter and early spring will likely be much different than the first half of winter," Todd Crawford, chief meteorologist at Weather Services International, said in a statement. "For the February-April aggregate period, we think that below-normal temperatures will occur north of a Phoenix-Washington, D.C. line."
February should be a particularly cold month, especially for the Pacific Northwest, where parts of Washington state were buried in a foot or more of snow earlier this month.
For Texas, the forecast comes amid a record drought that also led to a record wildfire season last year.
PhotoBlog: High and dry in Texas
Weather Services International, a division of The Weather Channel, attributed several factors to its outlook:
- An Arctic system that had blocked cold air from the north has now weakened.
- La Nina, the ocean cycle that influences weather, is weaker now but still a factor, especially since cold Arctic air is no longer being blocked. La Nina's winter impacts include colder northern temperatures and warmer southern ones.
- What's known as the North Atlantic Oscillation, a fluctuation of temperatures, is expected to shift in February and start sending cold air into the East.
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Oh, Great....
Geee,,,it's gonna be cold this winter? hahhaha...These people are a joke. In October when we had that freak snow storm they were giving dire warnings of Blizzards sweeping through the Northeast this winter. After the warm hot summer we had they were telling us of the freezing winter we would have.
Neither was right. We've had a mild winter so far as is typical for years we have a hot summer. South of Boston we've had under a foot of snow this winter, INCLUDING the storm in October.
When they can start predicting tomorrows weather accurately I may start paying attention to long range forecasts. not until then.
Yea..reason I live in NC is so that I can enjoy these cold 50 to 60 degree WINTER days. Should be in the 70's by Valentines Day. Nobody my age should have to shovel SNOW...But, please do not move to NC if you are COLD..Move to SC.. Hey, I understand that they even SUPPORT OPEN MARRIAGES. If I told MY Wife I wanted an open marriage she would just tell me to OPEN THE DOOR and LEAVE.
LOL, where in NC? I'm here as well, came for the same reason
Love the weather here
Never , ever thought to spring that on mine, would have to explain the lump on my head
I'm loving this forecast!! If you're wondering, I'm in the south.
wow - can you believe colder in the North - Warmer in the south, so this is news!!
I am amazed, that he did not receive Silver Star. From now on I will look differently at the marine decorations. One never knows what is behind each decoration.
Had to turn on the a/c in the car today in central Ga - meanwhile natural gas is at the lowest price in years and the heat in the house is hardly needed. I don't know what I did wrong to some weatherman somewhere in the past.
Ooops. Forgot that last year visiting out of town (out west) for Thanksgiving, walking in foot-deep snow and never getting as high as 20º all week, I swore I wouldn't complain about shirt-sleeve Holidays again. So, never mind.............
yadda yadda yadda...
and the hurricanes of 2004 were suposed to be the prelude to apocolypse, yet florida has not seen a hurricane since.
forcasters, the easiest job out there, you don't need to be right, ever.
Yes Chumb. How do we get a gig like that? You can be consistently WRONG and still keep your job. Only other job I know that you can get away with stuff like this is to be a politician.
I'm sure it has to do with global warming. Al, where are you AL????oh wait, warmer in the south and colder in the north... sounds absolutely.... NORMAL....
NOT cold in the north and warm in the south. Colder than average in the north and warmer than average in the south, there is a clear and distinct difference.
WOW............cold in the north and warm in the south.............I would have NEVER figured that out.
aaaaahahahhahaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Colder than AVERAGE in the North and warmer than AVERAGE in the South. Bit of difference there.
We can count on Golf sometime during every month of the year here in Dallas, Texas. Now if we could just count on RAIN sometime during every month of the year that would be news.
These weather people must be spinning a weather wheel or maybe spinning the not so news. I am in the NORTH of the line and we have had a good winter so far. I can see the lights at the end of the tunnel or maybe it is a mirage of AL Gore glowing.
Politicians requirements: 1. Be a weather person. 2. Not be held responsible for providing wrong information.
You see, all politicians were suppose to be weather forcasters. You can make up a story and never be responisble for making a mistake.
Blocked cold air, La Nina and North Atlantic Oscillation. All normal things that have happened time and time again. No evidence that anything we have been experiencing is due to global warming or climate change.
Glad we got that straight.
I don't seem to recall the article mentioning ONE thing about climate change, ek. Glad I got that straight.
It's been a lovely "winter" here in Florida :)
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of climate models,
I hold with those who favor ice.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of late
To say that for destruction fire
Is perfectly great.
Boy I'll bet the Global warming crazies are having a field day. See I told you the world was getting warmer. And when the weather get's colder they give us the same answer. Global warming.