Watch CBS News

La Niña is officially here. Here's how it may affect the remainder of Minnesota's winter.

La Niña is officially here. Here's how it may affect the remainder of Minnesota's winter.
La Niña is officially here. Here's how it may affect the remainder of Minnesota's winter. 01:35

MINNEAPOLIS — After a long wait, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says La Niña is officially here. That's when the sea surface temperatures along the equator in the Pacific Ocean drop below average. 

It's been a disappointing winter for snow lovers so far, but scientists say that could change now that La Niña is underway. 

"The last long La Niña we had, it was a moderate La Niña and it lasted three winter seasons. And the last one was kind of like the grand finale, the winter of '22-'23, where we had 90 inches of snow. So you can get big winters with the La Niña if they persist long enough," Minnesota Department of Natural Resources climatologist Pete Boulay said. 

So far, this year has been anything but snowy in Minnesota, with no major storms and only about 9 inches of total accumulation at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. This La Niña is expected to be weak and only last until spring, but Boulay said they can be tough to forecast. 

"The tricky thing is, you can't really predict them. They're not on a perfect cycle. It's not like one year you have an El Niño," said Bouley. "Then you have a La Niña. You could have three years of La Niña. So there's a lot of variability to it. So that's part of the reason why it's hard." 

The outlook for the rest of January through March looks to show the best chance of below-average temperatures across western Minnesota. And the best chance for above-average precipitation is on the other side of the state into Wisconsin. 

But Boulay said don't give up hope since La Niña's wintry impacts usually show up in the second half of the season. 

"For the snow lovers, what we need just to have this storm track shift back north a little bit," said Boulay. "Get one of those southwest storms to come back up here. As long as we have this cold air in place. Then we'll wait and see what happens." 

For more information about La Niña, click here

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.