Saturday, September 8, 2012

Official 2012-2013 Winter Forecast: Southwest

Temperatures in the Southwest will be relatively normal throughout much of the region, but where there are anomalies, there will be big anomalies. The upper section of the Southwest will get in on warmer than normal temperatures in the presence of the ridge that plagues the region during an El Nino. On the opposite end, area in and around Southern California should end up on the cool side as the constant influx of storm systems pulls in cooler air. This cooler air may extend into the mountains as well.

Precipitation will be abundant in the southern half of the Southwest, with the storm train leaving its mark across the region. Wet conditions will be present in low lying areas, while the mountains should get snowier than normal, thanks to the El Nino and the sub-tropical jet stream. A dry winter is in store for the upper portion of the Southwest, as the ridge in the Northwest deflects precipitation chances and leaves the region high and dry.

Andrew

3 comments:

AissaD said...

Will west Texas (midland/Odessa) areas have a "wetter than normal" winter this year? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Where does Colorado fit into this, since we don't technically fit into anybody's region, there really should be a separate forecast secion exclusively for Colorado since our state qualifes as being part of 4 different regions of the US (Northwest, Southwest, Central Plains, Southern Plains) maybe just refer to our area as the Rocky Mountain Region.

Andrew said...

AissaD: It will take storms that can hold their moisture through the mountains to make that happen. Nonetheless, it is possible.

Anonymous: I consider it the Southwest.