I thought this was an interesting forecast about the upcoming winter in NE from the weather channel:
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/55833/more-monster-snowstorms-for-th.aspOverall, this winter is not expected to be as extreme as last winter for the big cities east of the Appalachians. With that said, snowfall is still forecast to average near or even slightly above normal south and east of the mountains from Virginia to Maine.
Most of that snow is predicted to fall from December into January, making for an active start to the season for New York City and other big cities along the Interstate 95 corridor.
"A few significant ice or wet snow events can still occur south and east of the Appalachians," explained Paul Pastelok, AccuWeather.com Expert Long-Range Meteorologist and leader of the Long-Range Forecasting Team. Such events can also cause major power outages.
The interior Northeast is predicted to be colder and snowier than areas closer to the coast. An early, heavy lake-effect snow season will put areas from northwestern Pennsylvania into western New York, including Erie and Buffalo, into the zone of winter's worst snow and cold, according to the team.
"Lake-effect snow can be significant this year," Pastelok warned. He explained that with bitter arctic air set to blast across the relatively warm waters of the Great Lakes, conditions will be right for above-normal lake-effect snow from mid-November through early January.
Overall, precipitation is expected to be above normal throughout most of the Northeast from January into February. With the exception of northern parts of New York and New England, temperatures are forecast to average near normal for the winter season.
The AccuWeather.com Long-Range Forecasting Team is predicting another brutally cold and snowy winter for a large part of the country, thanks in large part to La Niņa... yet again.
La Niņa, a phenomenon that occurs when sea surface temperatures across the equatorial central and eastern Pacific are below normal, is what made last year's winter so awful for the Midwest and Northeast. Monster blizzards virtually shut down the cities of New York and Chicago. Last winter was one of New York City's snowiest on record.
La Niņas often produce a volatile weather pattern for the Midwest and Northeast during winter due to the influence they have on the jet stream. The graphic below shows the position the jet stream typically takes over the U.S. during La Niņa.
