Winter '09 / '10 - Earthsat

Travis Hartman, Energy Weather Manager:

*December and January warmer than normal, but cooler than the average over the past 10 years
*February temps to fall below normal, including along the eastern seaboard.

"We see the main driver for the winter being a moderate strength El Nino in the central tropical Pacific. With that we see a propensity for warmer-than-normal temperatures -- normal being the 30 year normal from 1971 to 2000 -- across the northern U.S. tier, specifically the Northern Plains, the Midwest and the Great Lakes region."

Reuters