Slightly warmer going in, perhaps, but a lot more snowy.
That’s the forecast for this winter from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center’s Winter Outlook
"It's showing a pretty strong signal of above normal precipitation all the way across the Northern Plains and across Illinois and the Great Lakes area," said Ed Shimon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln.
He said Central Illinois might see slightly above-normal temperatures in the early part of winter, but it will likely even out to average with cold bursts later in the season.
“We’re gonna see probably more frequent cold periods. Probably in the last half of the winter season, it looks like. Because some of the earlier monthly outlooks are showing slightly warmer than normal starting in December and maybe into January," said Shimon.
Nationwide, a winter with wide swings in precipitation and temperature is expected without the influence of either El Nino or La Nina to contend with. There are also fewer sunspots expected this winter, meaning slightly less sunlight to warm the Earth.
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