Cold Weather is Coming. Oh Joy. The South Dakota Long Range Winter Forecast Has Arrived

Upper midwest residents are ready to roll out the red carpet for El Nino which could give us a colder climate in the northern plains for the 2014 - 2015 winter season.

Weatheradvance.com has released it's preliminary map for this winter's outlook.

The Farmer's Almanac seems to agree:

Winter temperatures, precipitation, and snowfall all will be below normal. The coldest periods will be in late December, early to mid-January, late January, and early to mid-February. The snowiest periods will occur in late November, mid- to late December, early to mid-January, and mid- to late February."

With shovels, space heaters, and bitter cold temperatures still a little too fresh in our minds, here's a few more predictions from climate prediction centers:

The Norther Plains will see a cooler than normal winter with average precipitation is currently favored, due to the expected Pacific set-up and choice analog years. Snowfall is projected to be around average. - The Weather Centre

However, NOAA is predicting temperatures above normal for November, December and January:

South Dakota does not get a whole lot of snow during most El Nino winters and we see this as an off winter for snowfall and even frigid temps. We looked over the El Nino years below and with the southern jet and El Nino moisture staying mostly south this will not be like last winter with non-stop cold temps, the polar vortex and big time snowstorms. - http://liveweatherblogs.com

It seems opinions and forecasts vary for the upcoming winter. I"ll grab some mittens...just in case.