20 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | APRIL 2023
With a rather wet and cold winter
nearing an end, what does the spring
hold in store for us? The National
Climate Prediction Center (CPC)
provides seasonal outlooks for
temperature and precipitation, and
their recent outlook is shown in the
figures below. While in recent years,
the CPC projections tend to be on
the warm and dry side, that is not
the case for the upcoming spring
months.
As shown in Figure 1,
temperatures for Southern
California are indicated to have a
slightly greater chance of above
normal temperatures, while the
greatest chances of above normal
temperatures this year are projected
for the southern tier of states from
Arizona to Florida. For precipitation,
as shown in Figure 2, all of California
is indicated to have equal chances
of above normal and below normal
precipitation. This is in sharp
contrast to previous recent years
where California has been solidly in
the below normal category.
So, if there is such a thing as a
"normal" spring, these projections
indicate we might actually have one!
"Understanding the Weather" – A Series by Mel Zeldin, Retired Meteorologist
SPRING
WEATHER
Figure 1. Temperature outlook for spring
Figure 2. Precipitation outlook for spring
