NOAA El Nino climatology for DEC/JAN/FEB has verified with hits and misses so far as El Nino is still trying to fully develop.

The heat release into the atmosphere by a vast cooldown of the North Pacific in December contributed to a very warm climate across the U.S. for the month.

A quiet Christmas across the Central and East U.S. weather-wise but changes are on the way as a rain storm evolves Central to Southeast U.S. mid-to-late week with trailing heavy snows in the Upper Midwest. A New Year's Even snow storm from Chicago to Boston is possible.

Regional warmer than normal ocean surfaces in the Gulf of Mexico, subtropical East Pacific and western North Atlantic contributed to a climate pattern leading to the wettest 12-months on record for North Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.