NORTH DAKOTA (KXNET) — If the newly-released predictions hold true, North Dakota this winter should be colder than normal with normal precipitation and a continuing drought in the west. That's the indication in the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center forecast released Thursday morning. According to the forecast, a slowly-developing La Nina is "favored" to influence conditions for the upcoming winter across most of the country. The outlook is for December 2024 through February 2025 and contains information on likely conditions throughout the country for temperature, precipitation and drought. The precipitation chances are more nuanced than just "normal," according to the prediction center. The forecast sees equal chances of precipitation this winter as being either below normal or above normal in North Dakota. According to the prediction center, La Nina conditions are expected to develop later this fall and typically lead to a more northerly storm track during the winter months, leaving the southern tier of the country warmer and drier. As a result, NOAA forecasters, in collaboration with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), expect drought conditions to persist and worsen across the central and southern Plains of the U.S. “Unfortunately, after a brief period in the spring of 2024 with minimal drought conditions across the country, more than a quarter of the land mass in the continental U.S. is currently in at least a moderate drought,” said Brad Pugh, operational drought lead with NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center. “And the winter precipitation outlook does not bode well for widespread relief.” Below are the prediction center's summaries for temperature, precipitation and drought, along with maps showing the expected impacts across North Dakota and the U.S.: Temperature Warmer-than-average temperatures are favored from the southern tier of the U.S. to the eastern Great Lakes, eastern seaboard, New England and northern Alaska. These probabilities are strongest along the Gulf Coast and for most of Texas. Below-average temperatures are most likely in southern Alaska, with below-average temperatures slightly favored from the Pacific Northwest to the northern High Plains. The remaining areas have equal chances of below-, near-, or above-average seasonal mean temperatures. The 2024-2025 U.S. Winter Outlook map for temperature shows the greatest chances for cooler-than-average conditions in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. (Image credit: NOAA)Download Image Precipitation Wetter-than-average conditions are most likely in the Great Lakes states, and above-average precipitation is also favored in northern and western Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and across the northern tier of the U.S. These probabilities  are strongest in portions of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The greatest likelihood for drier-than-average conditions are in states bordering the Gulf of Mexico, as well as in Texas and southern New Mexico. Much of California, the central Plains states and the I-95 corridor from Boston to Washington, D.C., have equal chances of below-average, near-average or above-average seasonal total precipitation.  The 2024-2025 U.S. Winter Outlook map for precipitation shows wetter-than-average conditions are most likely across the Great Lakes region of the U.S.. Drier-than-average conditions are forecast for parts of the U.S. Gulf Coast. (Image credit: NOAA)Download Image Drought Widespread moderate to extreme drought continues across much of the Great Plains and in portions of the Rocky Mountains, especially farther south. Drought conditions are expected to improve or end in the Ohio River Valley, the Great Lakes region and portions of the northwestern U.S., including eastern Washington and Oregon and northern and central Idaho. Drought conditions are expected to persist across the Great Plains. Drought is likely to develop or worsen across portions of the Southwest and Gulf Coast.  The U.S. Drought Outlook map for November 2024 through January 2025 predicts drought improvement in the Ohio River Valley and the northern Rockies. Drought is likely to persist in portions of the Great Plains and the Midwest. Drought development is expected from the Four Corners region to the western Gulf coast. (Image credit: NOAA)Download Image About NOAA's seasonal outlooks NOAA’s seasonal outlooks provide the likelihood that temperatures and total precipitation amounts will be above-, near- or below-average, and how drought conditions are anticipated to change in the months ahead. The outlook does not project seasonal snowfall accumulations as snow forecasts are generally not predictable more than a week in advance.  NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center updates the three-month outlook monthly. The next update will be available November 21.