DES MOINES, Iowa - It looks like Iowa may have a warmer than usual winter.
"On the temperature side, a lot of people might like hearing this, there's a lean toward above average temperatures." National Weather Service Meteorologist Allan Curtis tells WHO Radio News.
The Winter Weather Forecast from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center for December, January, and February is less clear about snow.
"We're anticipating a weak El Niño." Curtis says. "If we do have El Niño we're typically on the warm side of normal, and typically on the less snowy side."
But, he says, because Iowa is in the center of the nation, and the El Niño forming in the Pacific region appears so weak at this point, it is impossible to accurately predict if it will have a major impact on Iowa's snowfall this winter, or not.