Last winter was insane, with record breaking snowfall, cold temperatures, and best of all 8 snow days! Because of last year’s winter many of students want snow days this year too.

“I want eight snow days this year because they only gave us one week for Christmas break” Breanna Beck(11) said.

During last year’s winter we were affected by El Niño , but this year we will be affected by its counterpart, la Niña.  It is important to know whether we will be affected by La Niña or El Niño because there are typical patterns that go with each which can help us to predict the weather.

 La Niña, the direct opposite of El Niño, occurs when sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean drop to lower-than-normal levels.   La Niña conditions were declared present in the tropical Pacific Ocean by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

One characteristics of La Niña in the northwest is below average temperature. The National Weather Service stated, “La Niña conditions have a 65-75 percent chance of continuing through the winter, which would result in below-average temperatures and above-average precipitation in Idaho and the rest of the northern United States for months to come.”  Students hope that this prediction is correct and there is plenty of cold weather.

 “I want it to be cold because it would make it so we don’t have to go to school” Lydia Stott(9) Said.

Other than being cold, this winter is also supposed to be wet.  This has already started to become apparent in the fall, according to Boise Weekly, “the Salmon Basin, comprising parts of Lemhi, Valley, Custer and Boise counties, had 202 percent of normal snow water equivalent as a percent of average, or more than double the amount of precipitation expected for this time of year. Parts of Idaho, Adams, Washington and Gem counties have also experience above-average precipitation, with snow and rainfall between 279 and 296 percent of normal.”  

Although there are predictions of what the weather may be like this winter nothing is certain. No matter what you think, this winter is going to be like be prepared for anything; rain, snow, sleet, wind, cold, and hopefully a few warm days.  Because as we all know, the only thing predictable about Idaho weather is that it is not predictable.