Here's who could see above-average snowfall this winter in the US

AccuWeather

The cold season is upon us and AccuWeather's long range forecasters say El Nino will play a major role in our winter, impacting who could see above-average snowfall.

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00:00 Accuweather's long-range forecasters say El Nino will play a major role this winter.

00:06 El Nino is a weather pattern caused by warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.

00:11 Lead long-range expert Paul Pastelok says while not every El Nino is the same, the results are often similar.

00:18 More moisture in the south because of a strong southern jet stream pattern storm track that sets up,

00:25 and we should see less precipitation in the north as far as snow goes in the northern Rockies, less in the Great Lakes.

00:32 Because of this, from the northwest all the way to the mid-Atlantic and up into the northeast,

00:37 Accuweather's winter forecast is calling for snowfall to run below historical averages this winter.

00:43 Pastelok says a strong El Nino favors less precipitation and higher temperatures in the northwest,

00:49 while in the midwest and interior northeast, snow amounts and frequency are expected to run below historical averages.

00:56 This year, Pastelok says the big storm potential will be greatest for the northeast in February and March.

01:03 If we can push higher pressure in the northwest, get a little help from the polar vortex displacement,

01:09 and get that southern jet stream to kind of turn a little bit up the east coast,

01:13 we'll have an opportunity to see not maybe one, but maybe a few storms coming up the east coast this year.

01:19 On the southern side of the United States, stretching from central California to the Appalachian Mountains,

01:24 the snow forecast is a bit better.

01:27 With a southern storm track setting up, snowfall is expected to run above historical averages.

01:32 Last winter, the mountains in the west saw storm after storm, producing record snowfall in some areas.

01:38 Pastelok says that could happen this year.

01:41 I think we can get into periods when that happens.

01:43 Will it be exactly what we saw last year? Maybe just shy of that.

01:46 In the southeast, Pastelok says the most favorable areas for more snow and ice

01:51 will be in the Tennessee Valley and the central Gulf states.

01:54 For AccuWeather, I'm Lincoln Riddle.

01:56 I'm Lincoln Riddle.

01:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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