La Niña strengthened during the past month, as indicated by an increasingly prominent pattern of below-average sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, and is predicted to persist through the Northern Hemisphere winter 2017-18 by nearly all models.
Based on the latest observations and forecast guidance, forecasters favor the peak of a weak-to-moderate La Niña during the winter.
La Niña is anticipated to affect temperature and precipitation across the United States during the upcoming months, with outlooks generally favoring above-average temperatures and below-median precipitation across the southern tier of the United States, and below-average temperatures and above-median precipitation across the northern tier of the United States.
