Climate outlook for the 2022 growing season

ATHENS — Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center released its latest three-month climate outlook for the United States. What does this mean for conditions in the Southeast in the coming growing season?

The Climate Prediction Center outlook shows a continuation of the current La Niña pattern of warmer and drier conditions across the Southeast that has occurred over most of the winter. La Niña is related to unusually cold water in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and often pushes the jet stream that steers low-pressure areas across the region to the north, leaving the Southeast in warm and sunny conditions.