The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released it’s winter outlook for December 2024 through February 2025 and it shows a likelihood of colder than normal temperatures in South Dakota. Forecasters say a slowly-developing La Nina is favored to influence conditions for the upcoming winter. This may favor cooler than normal temperatures for portions of the Northern Plains. 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. Infographic credit: NOAA Climate Prediction Center.   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. Infographic credit: NOAA Climate Prediction Center. 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. Additional details can be found here: https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/us-winter-outlook-warmer-and-drier-south-wetter-north.