El Nino winter ahead could mean a drier, warmer winter

What does El Niño winter mean for the Pacific Northwest1

FOX 13 Chief Meteorologist Brian MacMillan has a look at the long range forecast for the Pacific Northwest.

SEATTLE - The Pacific Northwest is gearing up for an El Nino winter for the first time in four years.

This comes on the heels of a very dry late spring and summer, leading to extreme drought conditions in the central and northern Washington Cascades and parts of the north Puget Sound lowlands.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released their winter forecast outlook today by the Climate Prediction Center. It confirmed what FOX 13 meteorologists have been talking about the past few months. We are looking at a potentially warmer and drier winter in the Pacific Northwest.

Snowpack may not be as good in the mountains as it has been the past few seasons, especially at the lower elevations. We could also see fewer snow events in the lowlands. Looking back on the past ten El Nino winters, it shows that some snow is likely in Seattle this winter, while a lot of snow is not. In the graphic below, "M" stands for missing information. Those El Nino years were not recorded at Sea-Tac.