Below Average Snowfall Expected in New York This Winter

A developing weather pattern could mean New York will see a lot less snow this year.

Cold weather enthusiasts were seemingly promised by multiple weather outlooks that there would be a lot of snow this winter.

One such report came from the Farmer's Almanac, which warned of "rapid-fire storms [...] with little downtime in between."

With the area already enduring two cold fronts in August, it made sense that Central New York would see its first flakes of snow very soon.

Read More: First Winter Snowfall May Come Sooner Than You Think in New York

This might not be the case after all, with the ski-enthusiast website SnowBrains warning that a brewing new weather pattern could knock us off course.

La Niña is starting to develop in the Pacific, replacing a strong El Niño that helped create all that rain. Unfortunately, this weather pattern isn't as strong as initially thought and that could mean all that cold air needed to make snow might not be in the cards.

The weak system is expected to produce below-average snowfall in the Northeast, as predicted by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and the United Kingdom Met Office (UKMO). The two are prominent long-range forecasting models.

Meanwhile, the Northwestern part of the nation will likely get blasted by snow this year, as will the Upper Midwest and the Great Lakes region. The snow is expected to fall hardest in January.

Severe Weather Europe broke down the data even more and explained how a weak La Niña could mean significantly less snow for New York.

The weather pattern then influences the jet stream, a fast-moving air current in the atmosphere that helps determine where cold air and storms track across the country.

If the jet stream dips southward, that's when the Northeast sees a typical and snow-filled La Niña winter.

Unfortunately, it seems the weak system is causing the jet stream to stay further north, which allows for more milder temperatures into the region.

This could change when the models run again later this month, which is when La Niña should be more pronounced and further solidify what kind of winter we'll get.

At this moment, it looks like we might see more rain than snowflakes this year. Here's hoping that's not the case!

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