NOAA predicts winter temperatures could be warmer than usual in the Southeast

On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration delivered its predictions for the upcoming winter season.

NOAA forecasters said the greatest chance for warmer-than-normal conditions will be across the southern United States, including the Southwest, the Gulf states and the Southeast. Warmer-than-normal conditions are likely but not as strong from the Mid-Atlantic into the Northeast, and Hawaii and western and northern Alaska could also see a warmer winter than average.

According to NOAA, below-normal temperatures are most likely in southern Alaska and from the northern Pacific Northwest into the Northern Plains.

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According to NOAA, drought is a concern, especially over the western half of the U.S. and in parts of the Northeast. The southern U.S. may also experience intensifying drought conditions this winter.

“With La Nina well established and expected to persist through the upcoming 2020 winter season, we anticipate the typical, cooler, wetter North, and warmer, drier South, as the most likely outcome of winter weather that the U.S. will experience this year,” said Mike Halpert, deputy director of NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

NOAA said wetter-than-average conditions are most likely across the northern U.S. and the greatest chances for drier-than-average conditions are predicted in the Southwest. The Southeast has a "modest chance" for drier conditions, NOAA said.