For those who dread a scorching summer after the balmy winter, take heart. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts say it may be above normal, but not an oven.
NOAA notes above normal temperatures may sizzle the southern U.S. and eastern seaboard. But from Mid-Missouri to the Pacific Northwest, temperatures may be normal or even a bit cooler than normal.
"There's a tilt in the odds toward a warmer summer for the southern two-thirds of the country, but it's not a guarantee," Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center told OurAmazingPlanet. "We don't give guarantees in the climate business."
Plus, you can put away the water-wings, NOAA doesn't forecast flooding.
“We’re not forecasting a repeat of recent historic and prolonged flooding in the central and northern U.S., and that is a relief,” said Laura Furgione, deputy director of NOAA’s National Weather Service in a press release. “The severity of any flooding this year will be driven by rainfall more so than the melting of the current snowpack.”
One region's relief is another region's torment. Dry conditions may continue to plague the desert of America's Southwest.
“Recent rainfall has helped lessen the drought in eastern Oklahoma, northeast Texas and interior Louisiana, but the historic magnitude of this prolonged drought means that recovery will be slow,” said David Brown, director, NOAA Southern Region Climate Services in a release. “Drought is now encompassing parts of the West and Southwest making conditions more favorable for wildfires.”
IMAGE:
Springtime in Switzerland (Benjamin Gimmel, Wikimedia Commons)
