(Radio Iowa) – The La Nina weather pattern will influence Iowa’s climate for the winter ahead, likely bringing wetter and colder-than-normal temperatures. It’s the third winter in a row for La Nina, but observers do -not- expect it to make a fourth appearance. Meteorologist Doug Kluck, the climate services director for the central region of the National Weather Service, says they see La Nina fading early next year. “As time goes on, into the spring, we see a lessening of the chance of La Nina to sustain itself,” Kluck says, “better chances for something we call neutral, sort of in between La Nina and El Nino, that are chances for that kind of middle period.” Kluck says they expect cooler, wetter weather for the region during December.

“There’s better chances, leaning towards below-normal temperatures across the far north, really, the entire area except for Colorado,” Kluck says, “and then for us, it’d be the Missouri Basin being above-normal in terms of chances for precipitation.” Kluck says the expectation for December through February is similar. “We have that below-normal temperatures extending from the Great Lakes west to the coast. That’s a very, very, very strong La Nina-esque picture,” Kluck says. “That’s precipitation above-normal across the northern tier and Ohio River Basin. A lot of those places need the water, and so we hope they get it.”

With La Nina fading, Kluck says the expectation is for more normal weather trends across North America.