El Niño is one of three phases of the El Niño Southern Oscillation, which tracks water temperature changes in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that can have rippling effects on weather patterns around the globe. A wetter southern tier and a drier northern tier in an outlook for this winter from the Climate Prediction Center have all the fingerprints of an El Niño winter. El Niño winter patterns are less regular in California, the Southwest and the Northeast. The Northeast doesn’t have a well-defined set of expectations during an El Niño winter. A very strong El Niño during the 2015-2016 winter contributed to the warmest winter on record for the US mainland, according to NOAA.

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