While the chill of the "polar vortex" and some snowy weather are forecast to return this winter, meteorologists don't expect them to have the same persistence as they did last winter, according to two seasonal forecasts issued Thursday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts normal temperature variations in the mid-Atlantic this winter, with no strong climate signals suggesting either colder- or warmer-than-normal conditions. Of course, the forecast was the same last winter, which turned out to be among the coldest in decades.
"Those kinds of really extreme-type winters are pretty much impossible to forecast," said Mike Halpert, acting director of NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, which is based in College Park. "Our outlook certainly doesn't favor something like that [again]."