La Niña brings warmer temperatures to the northeast

(WFSB) - These warmer than average temperatures have a lot of people wondering, where is winter?

Mountains like Mt. Southington thrive on colder temperatures for the winter season. At the mountain they are making up for it somewhat with this powder.

Let’s break down what La Niña is.

It’s the cooler phase of the El Niño southern oscillation. Sea surface temperatures are lower in the pacific and trade winds are stronger than usual.

This pattern can push milder above average temperatures in the northeast along with the jet stream.

It’s returning for a third consecutive year.

There has also been some whacky weather out west lately.

Video shows brutal conditions in California, getting slammed with heavy rainfall leading to this flooding, damaging winds and some snow.

Interesting enough, La Niña is usually associated with drought, but not always, as you can see this year!

While La Niña is a good guide for seasonal forecasts, each La Niña cycle is going to be slightly different than the previous ones.

Many are wishing for snow, but Jay Dougherty, the general manager at Mt. Southington, said they have been able to operate at full capacity thanks to their snow making machines.

“We like to see nighttime lows this time of year somewhere around 20 degrees which is ideal which means we can continuously make snow and resurface the whole area but we did lay down a good enough base we’ve been able to sustain through,” said Dougherty.

The colder air doesn’t look it’s going to come any time soon, for now.

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