During the fall season water managers in the Colorado River Basin start looking at the outlooks from the Climate Prediction Center. Weather patterns this year will be influenced by a third La Niña in a row.
Graphic credit: NWS Salt Lake City office
The southern tier of the CONUS trends drier in La Niña winters. Thankfully, La Niña influences in the Upper Basin (Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming) are mixed and snowfall can be ample in these headwater states.
So what is the Climate Prediction Center forecast through December 31, 2022? Here are the precipitation, temperature, and drought outlooks, and it looks like much of the last year warm and dry.
The outlook through March 31, 2023 is mostly “Equal chances” which tells us that the CPC is leaning on history and the current La Niña.