(WGHP) – On Thursday, NOAA released their winter outlook for the upcoming season with a focus on temperature, precipitation and drought for December through February.  NOAA is predicting a drier-than-normal winter season from the Four Corners region of the Southwest, along the Gulf Coast and into the Southeast. Keep up with the winter forecast for North Carolina at FOX8's new Winter Weather Center! Wetter-than-normal conditions are expected for the entire northern tier of the United States, especially in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes, as well as northern and western Alaska.  As of the winter outlook released on Oct. 17, the majority of North Carolina, including the Piedmont Triad, has a 33% to 40% chance to see a drier-than-normal winter.   One of the reasons for this winter precipitation outlook is an emerging La Niña which is expected to influence the upcoming winter patterns. La Niña conditions are forecast to develop by the end of Autumn and typically lead to a more northerly storm track during the winter months, which, as NOAA states, will leave “the southern tier of the country warmer and drier.”  The drier conditions forecast across much of the southern United States contribute to the drought outlook for this winter. The La Niña winter pattern is expected to prolong or worsen drought conditions in the central and southern Plains. The Ohio River Valley, the Great Lakes region and portions of the Northwest are expected to see drought conditions improve or end through the winter months.   According to the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook, no drought is currently expected to develop in North Carolina from November 2024 through January 2025.  In regard to temperatures, warmer-than-average conditions are favored across the southern tier of the United States as well as across the eastern seaboard, into the eastern Great Lakes and the Northeast. The strongest chance for above-normal temperatures this winter is along the Gulf Coast, the southern mid-Atlantic and the majority of Texas.  North Carolina and the Triad have between a 50% to 70% chance to see a warmer-than-normal winter.  However, just because the overall average temperature has a strong chance to be above normal this winter does NOT mean we won’t see cold snaps. It means that the overall three-month winter period is trending warmer than normal.  The most likely places to see below-average temperatures this winter include southern Alaska, and from the Pacific Northwest to the High Plains. A large central portion of the country has equal chances for above-, below- or near-average seasonal temperatures.