Severe Weather, Artic Blasts, and More On The Way This Winter in New York and Beyond

The weather we will experience this winter will likely be brutal and unforgiving and here's why.

One thing that's certain here in Upstate New York - you cannot escape the winter. The big question is always how bad the storms will be and how much snow is expected to pile up.

We already know that the Farmer's Almanac has predicted it to be cold & snowy this year, but why?

El Nino is the reason

What does that mean? It means that the waters out near the Pacific ocean are getting warmer than usual. For the past three years we've been in a La Nina, which means that the water in the Pacific have been cooler.

Here's the definition of El Nino, according to National Geographic.

El Niño is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. El Niño is the “warm phase” of a larger phenomenon called the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

How is Upstate New York impacted by warm waters in the Pacific?

The warm water sin the Pacific create a jet stream that moves east towards the Atlantic, warming the waters there. That combined with colder air coming down from Canada creates the perfect conditions for winter storms to form and thrive.

Make sure you've got your shovels and snowblowers ready, because if the predictions are correct we could see a lot of snow, artic blasts from Canada, and severe weather up and down the entire East Coast.

In addition to storms on the East Coast, the southern parts of the United States that are currently experiencing heat advisories and higher than normal temperatures could see a significant cool down.

Watch this full video for a complete explanation on the winter predictions: