National Weather Service forecasts record El Niño this winter. What does that mean for Grand Forks?

GRAND FORKS — The National Weather Service of Grand Forks is forecasting a record El Niño this winter. For the immediate region, this may mean above-average temperatures during the coming months. In the past, strong El Niños have been less snowy, but major snowstorms can still happen. NWS is still expecting average precipitation rates overall. This will probably be a low-key, not-as-snowy winter. We may not see as many headlines, but we should still pay attention when we do issue them, said NWS meteorologist Blake Rafferty. We ll still get winter, of course, but it might be a lot less mild and typically warmer. During typical warm El Niños, warmer equatorial waters often lead to cooler waters at higher latitudes, like the Gulf of Alaska. That can shift the polar jet stream farther north and away from North Dakota and the northern United States. The anomalous warm waters keep the Pacific jet stream farther south, guiding more winter storms into the southern U.S.